CR Blog
Obey Obama
Advertising, Graphic Design, Music Video / Film
Posted by Gavin Lucas, 29 January 2008, 12:24 Permalink Comments (44)
Shepard Fairey is well known for his prolific stickering and flyposting of his propaganda-style images. While we at CR are well aware of his ability to stick his images just about anywhere in any city, we're still surprised to see his the hot-off-the-press posters he's created in support of Senator Barack Obama...
We wondered whether Fairey had produced these posters off his own bat or whether he's on Obama's campaign payroll. So, we got in touch with his agent who tells us that Fairey created the posters without any fiscal incentive from the Obama camp, "100% on his own."
Here's what Fairey says about the work on his website:
”I believe with great conviction that Barack Obama should be the next President. I have been paying close attention to him since the Democratic convention in 2004. I feel that he is more a statesman than a politician. He was against the war when it was an unpopular position (and Hillary was for the war at that time), Obama is for energy and environmental conservation. He is for healthcare reform. Check him out for yourself: barackobama.com. Proceeds from this print go to produce prints for a larger statewide poster campaign.”
Mmm... sounds to us like Obama's campaign manager himself couldn't have written that statement any better (we like the inclusion of Hilary Clinton's pro-war position). BUT, hey, the guy's got political convictions and we certainly can't knock that. Lucky Obama – this is a great addition to his campaign, commissioned or not. The posters look great and we also love the call-to-action VOTE! poster he posted up on his site last week:
To order your copy of the Progress poster (screenprint is 24 X 36 inches, edition of 350), and to see more of Fairey's work, visit his site: obeygiant.com
44 Comments
Is it just me or is there a nasty streak of cynicism in this post? Can't Shepard just believe in a candidate? Is everyone in someone's pocket?
2008-01-29 14:45:33
why does everyone try to read things into everything? The current state of the nation has made us all paranoid and thinking that everyone has ulterior motives. Is it possible for shepard fairey to just support a candidate because he feels he is best for the job? Can he not point out the importance to vote? I personally am glad to see a well designed political poster....and am also voting for obama.
2008-01-29 17:09:35
welcome to the european sensibility in creative circles. any conviction whether it be religious, political or moral is viewed with cynical sceptisicm. i cant talk, i rubbished a water carrying bike on this blog last week, designed by those wishing to improve other's lives, though in fairness, that was shit.
over here in order to get on you have to be a liberal, organic food eating atheist, whose idea of moral conviction is buying recycled toilet roll. it also helps if you like wearing a lot of overpriced APC clothing, sport directional hair and/or facial hair, and collect 'limited edition' plastic toys. anyone who steps outside this box is generally viewed with suspicion and pointed at in the street (that street being located either in soho or shoreditch)
2008-01-29 17:58:57
hahaha facial hair and limited edition toys...your killing me....
2008-01-29 19:02:56
I do not like how the illustration just end, look at the tie. there probably is one with the word "CHANGE" also. =P
2008-01-29 21:12:15
You all treat Fairey as god, a harbinger of truth, and if he doesn't fall in line with your convictions, or whatever beliefs you believe will save the world, woe betide. One man, convinced of a truth; nothing more. Shepard Fairey and Obama. Get used to it, you're going to have to deal with it a whole lot in the next eight years (I hope). And I hope you'll hope too.
2008-01-30 06:00:52
I want a t-shirt of this! Nice work! Obama definitely rocks your momma's socks off!
2008-01-30 06:10:04
After watching Colbert last night, I want a poster of Obama as a Skrull.
Wait, if Fairey made these posters, does this mean Fairey made Obama? And if Andre the Giant made Fairey famous, then wouldn't that mean...
Andre the Giant made Obama.
2008-01-30 18:11:56
At least we can be fairly sure Fairey didnt steal this image directly from communist posters.
2008-02-01 18:47:58
These would be much nicer if Fairey could leave his brand's logo off of it (that's not a signature, it's branding). It really detracts from the overall message he's trying to send and just makes this look like another Obey "product" and nothing more.
Stuart, he had to run out of images eventually.
2008-02-06 18:36:51
Stop with the stealing accusations. Enough already! There is nothing new under the sun. RECYCLE. Get it? You and I, we all come from someone else. Art begets art, its continual; it’s cyclical, just as the Earth is rotating, if you see something in one form today, it will return tomorrow in another form.
Do you think Picasso invented art? Duh. He like every artist has been inspired and influenced which enables them to take and make something uniquely there own.
2008-02-06 20:49:15
For all the pretentious nonsense about how "important" design is, and how design can "change the world" I think this may be the first "important" design piece I've seen in a long time. Shepard should be praised whether or not he made the posters because he actually supports Obama's campaign or if he is being paid by them to do it. Shepard has garnered a name for himself through his Andre the Giant and OBEY work. I think it's refreshing to see someone whose work was once politically fueled art designed for arts sake or for profit move into the realm of, for politics. He's using his name and style to get young people to vote. Has anyone seen how lame campaign posters usually look!?
2008-02-08 10:47:26
It's a nicely designed poster, no doubt. But it does really creep me out when I see them plastered all over the place. It really seems crafted to subconsciously bring forth these deifying emotions and link them to Obama's face. Good advertising to be sure, but creepy none the less. I don't deify the man, nor do I ever want to. I question everything. And I think a healthy amount of skepticism is necessary to keep those in power in check. He's not a God. You can question what Obama does, wander who his people might commission to make artwork for him, disagree with his some of his actions AND still support him as a candidate. It's never either/or. In fact, I think that kind of support forces a candidate to be even stronger.
2008-02-09 23:33:51
All three posters lack creativity and are pretty ineffective. Each attempt displays the symptoms of the disease that is plaguing our political arena. They don't deal with any of the real issues which are facing our country, instead they attack people's emotions by using keywords that have been assigned by 30-second bits of information broadcasted on 30-min national "news"casts.
We should be demanding a more intelligent analysis of the political problems we are currently confronting-- and as designers we should all expect more from one of todays most visible figures in our field.
2008-02-10 23:28:54
Oh, I love Obama.
I used to love owls. And before that I just luuuuuved deer with antlers. But they're not as popular anymore. So now I love Obama!!!! Yay Obama. So trendy!!!
2008-02-12 06:36:51
Well, my friend who is totally active told me that because Bush caused the global warming all the rainbows are going extinct. Their like an endangered speaces. (notice how the root word of speaces is "peace"! So profound!) So anyway, my friend was telling me how Obama is in something called the rainbow coalition and so he's definitely pro-rainbow. Which is good for the environment and everything. It would be terrible if the children of our future didn't ever get to see the rainbows because they all went extinct! Go Obama!!!!!
2008-02-12 09:09:20
Nolan, Rich, Vanessa,
Enough, you folks are a little jaded, cynical and suspicious are you not?
As an artist, yeah, glad I don't mass produce anything, love to collect posters, lots of em out there....make or commission your own, it isn't easy! That said, I HOPE to buy one yet and I may have to be on top of it, but if you can't say something nice, you need to get a better life. Glad this poster generated passion, that's what it's about and if you still have some, more power to you, better than a lot of brain/body dead folks, try to place it in better spots.
Adios!
2008-02-13 07:11:59
hahaha i managed to get my hands on a few of these
its nice seeing people making a fuss about them
as i stare at my mint conditon stack of them
:)
2008-02-21 00:04:53
WEll done Shep!
Good to see someone sticking their neck out and laying it on the line. Shepard has been political throughout his career, singular in his vision, and even though his OBEY campaign for world domination surges ever fwd, he hasn't sold out his beliefs and morals, which at the end of the day, makes us who we are. (He doesn't use sweatshops for his T's)
As for the arguments that putting his "brand" on the posters, well he's simply aligning himself with Obama, I'd expect a Hilary sporting a Nuke IRaq badge, Obey poster at some pint too!
2008-03-18 12:50:04
I would say that Fairey has been the opposite of political. He has been anti-political. That's what made the original obey campaign interesting. It looks political, but has an absence of significance.
I think even his site still has this message of no message.
2008-03-18 23:09:21
I am wondering what is expected of these posters? By that I mean, what expectations are brought to them? Perhaps that shapes the diversity of opinions about them.
I first saw these posters on a car enthusiast's BBS where political debate was raging and one of the poster's on that BBS decided to place one of these partly, I suspect, to announce his support for Obama but also to rile those who see Obama as the antithesis of all they stand for. Without seeing them as anyone in particular's art, but just for themselves, I found them to particularly powerful and bold as election propaganda, not only separating the candidate from his competition's more pedestrian and expected signage, but in a more subtle way signaling a whole different way of looking at the political arena and putting artistic power into the imagery associated with a political campaign.
Altho the images are strikingly different from much of what has been used before in its artistic technique and style, it is, to my warped mind, quite reminiscent of a similar evocative and emotional quality used by many others in the past. I was immediately struck by its lack of verbal content, snappy phrases, cliche's, and bumper sticker mentality so often the norm in our political paraphernalia. It is reduced to a static image, but made dynamic by color choice and image simplification in contrast to realism. This is not a photo, but an interpretation of a photo, and these posters' content and impact is in that interpretation, not in a glib message or call for action. It assumes that the viewer knows the context in which it is used and knows why it is there. It is perhaps much more thought provoking than just another stylized red, white, and blue field with Joe Blow for President emblazoned across it and some simplistic bit of stylized artwork for a signature.
2008-03-22 07:20:43
We should judge a person by their actions and not their words. The fact that Obama choose Mr. Wright as his spiritual teacher for 20 years and included Mr. Wright in his election staff speaks well for Mr. Obama’s thinking and actions. Words are easy to manipulate and it is unlikely that Obama's recent speech was written by Mr. Obama anyway. Mr. Obama has a powerful and power hungry staff including his wife that will do anything to get him elected to power. But clearly this man Mr. Obama is not to be trusted with the future of our great country. And regardless that he is ‘fashionably black’ and that many of you have some desire to prove to yourself or to others that you are not prejudice and that you like black people with an attitude of ‘See, I like black people, I voted for a black person.’ And whether you are black or white, such an attitude of voting for a person because of their race is the definition of prejudice.
2008-03-22 20:11:13
Dear Olandug:
Nothing tests me more then when an individual tries to pass opinions off as facts. 'Faux' News Channel in America are the masters of manipulation and you, Olandug, are cut from the same cloth.
Cases in point: I am a supporter of Barack Obama and not because he is of mixed race or because I have some liberal view to prove. I am voting for him because of all the candidates running, Mr. Obama is the only one who has the imagination, foresight, and intellectual insight to begin to unify the racially divided United States of America.
Bill and Hillary Clinton have disappointed me because of the dirty politics (race card; fear bombs) they have been playing. That style of politics isn't going to move America forward. I'm still not sure about McCain but his 100-year Iraq war plan is, to say the least, disconcerting.
And regarding Jeremiah Wright, his YouTube snippets were taken out of context. Here is the whole, 9-minute sermon, which isn't racist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ
In any case, you're implying guilt by association. (How many innocent people would be jailed if your mentality ruled America, God forbid.) But like me, Mr. Obama has his own views, as proven in his groundbreaking speech on race in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU
You certainly don't speak for me and I imagine you don't speak for other voters who vote with their own minds. In any case, this is a visual communications blog; please direct your political opinions to a political blog, like The Huffington Post.
Nice Obama posters, by the way!
2008-03-23 14:05:22
Why not a "God Damn America!" poster?
Obama is a disgrace.
2008-03-29 23:50:13
Dear Mick Gregory,
Senator Barack Obama did not make those incendiary comments; Reverend Wright did. And to imply that every person in Rev. Wright's congregation shared Rev. Wright's more extreme views is a sweeping, unfair generalization. (Put another way, if your father spouted racist views, would that make you, yourself, a racist?)
But Hillary Clinton DID, on three separate occasions, claim she was under fire in Bosnia when, in fact, on her visit the war was already over.
Meanwhile, on the G.O.P. side, John McCain, the man who claims to have foreign policy experience, has made patently false statements that Shiite Iran is training Sunni Al Qaeda members in Iraq, on more than one occasion. Worrying.
Now, who is a disgrace? (Hint: Not Barack Obama.)
Barack Obama deserves these great posters. And I HOPE they win a design award.
2008-03-31 17:53:59
In response to the ridiculous witch hunt taking place over Senator Obama's remarks about his experiences in being sensitive enough to guage the frustrations of small town america. This is an example of how disgustingly brainwashed MOST of the republican minded, war supporting, uninformed, follower mentality having people of the United Corporations of America are! You buy in to the glory of war, believe all of the orchestra backed editing of the commercials spouting fear & duty that will surely inspire the weak minded to support the validity of war, & they turn you against the only guy unwilling to bend & who is only interested in telling it like it is! These are the perspectives he recieves from being on the road meeting small towners months on end. A man with that experience is to be trusted! NOT a Bush supporting republican who has YET to condemn the current administration for the misleading lies that got us into this war. Not a woman who now seems so desperate to win that she is resembling a spoiled child unable to throw her treats in the basket at the grocery store. Aren't we tired of the same old rhetoric? Isn't it about time to hear the truth, confront the issues, & support someone who refuses to bend on his principals? That man is BARACK HUSSEIN (SO THE HECK WHAT) OBAMA! Get over it...he will beat McBush AND Hil LEARY in the race for change...and change we will.
2008-04-12 10:19:20
Nice posters, remind me of 1950's Communistic Iconography... more akin to Mao or Stalin.
2008-05-14 20:54:15
Even though they are sold out, they can be found on http://www.obamaposter.org. Original buyers are reselling them so the price is quite a bit more than the original selling price.
I can't believe all the Obama bashing.
2008-05-25 02:45:11
I don't know anything about this guy but he's the greatest thing since sliced bread. When he opens his mouth to speak my pulse goes crazy! Who cares about his background, where he went to school, who he spends time with - he's amazing. Lets all blindly put our faith in his untested hands!! Change is always good right?
2008-06-05 05:23:34
the more i see these "face" posters plastered around town the more they remind me of the propaganda used by stalin and lenin in russia... i'm rooting for obama, but i have to admit these posters are creepy.
2008-06-28 08:26:51
The Obama Hope Change Progress Posters by Shepard Fairey are fantastic if you ask me -- the New Rock the Vote Poster is fantastic too. They are iconic designs even if they were influenced by other periods or eras -- no one else thought to design them.
The Obama poster looks a lot like a classic well-cherished photograph of JFK -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
I found a site that has both for sale now -- the originals ( limited edition prints) are very hard to find these days but I think I am going to be able to get one of each, including Rock the Vote. They are destined to become classics if you ask me!
cool.
2008-07-04 21:03:19
Can you see the Big Brother, totalitarian style? If you research Shep Fairey, that is what he has been designing for the past 20 years. The joke is on you.
2008-09-23 11:45:29
As an artist one should be skeptical and suspicious of political parties and politicians. Why do I feel like I'm the only young person in this country that is not in the Obama kool-aid line, wearing a happy shiny face? Sorry but this whole bandwagon screams of a 70's cult. I have been sick of Fairey's mind numbing images since the early Baltimore days. Years of that idiotic Andre! Now the Savior called "Hope"!
2008-10-05 01:04:47
andre the giant still has a posss.
2008-10-06 05:18:07
I made a beige one, in honor of Obama's biracial heritage:
OBAMA: HOPE=TAUPE.
http://pageslap.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/obama-hope-poster-taupe/
2008-10-19 00:36:08
Marxism just isn't for everyone.
2008-10-19 16:31:46
shep is the man.
http://hopeposters.com
2008-10-21 15:56:28
I hate this match. It takes stupid little kids and they think Obey is "cool" so they wear it. They have no idea what they are wearing and the only reason there wearing it is because OBEY made em. Its a money scheme for both parties and i made a sticker that said "suicide" instead of hope because we all know the KKK is going to kill him. Thats it : )
2008-10-29 21:17:06
Find Obama X Obey Tee shirt on our website
http://www.ragdoll-shop.com
2008-11-05 14:43:28
Its a great poster, I don't like Obama's plan to implement grand scale socialism into this country but the poster is powerful.
Good composition, great color scheme, nice perspective.
But Obama is going to turn this country into Cuba... anyone who thinks that is a good idea is extremely ignorant. But Obama knows and counts on the ignorance of the American public.
Like the famous Che Guevara poster, its images like this that sell people to the masses... no specific thoughts or ideas are expressed, just vague terms and platitudes with a powerful image.
God help us.
2008-11-07 19:38:36
The Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell caught up with him at an exhibition during the Democratic convention in Denver this summer.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/aug/26/manifest.hope.obama
2008-11-11 15:35:40
c'mon already. Hack artists who paint fruit are ripping off God. Can you imagine what kind of royalties she/he/it is going to exact from you?
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=48458693250
2009-02-06 15:30:33
OH, my-does anyone besides me find it more than a little bit creepy and BIG BROTHER-ish, this OBEY OBAMA thing??? I mean, just who does Obama think he is-or maybe the question is, just who IS he, really, in the grand scheme of things? and just what's up with this guy who's making all these OBEY OBAMA carnival trinkets and charging outlandish (in my opinion) prices; and where is the money going??? Not toward the American bailout, no doubt...
When you put this together with everything else, including but not exclusive to: Obama's questionable birth place, equally questionable religion and loyalty(???) to the United States of America, and then there's THE BEAST-ie, his multi million dollar limo...yeah Ya don't have to be crazy to see a thread of disturbing commonality in all of this, do you? NOPE!!!
2009-02-09 20:19:19
don't think for yourself just obey obama. he knows, he cares, he changes, he is hope for your pathetic little life that you refuse to live for yourself.... NOT!
2009-04-05 04:05:45
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