Obama's 'Hope' Poster

https://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/graphic-design/articles/2012/november/05/design-of-the-week-obama-hope/

"pasted the image across the city in a display of political allegiance"

"an icon of twenty-first century graphic design was born"

"Allying a powerful simplicity to an optimistic message, the poster achieves a perfect synthesis of image and text to communicate the essence of the Obama vision."

"wise but not intimidating facial expression"

https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/how-design-influences-politics

"Fairey’s creation was originally underground, but soon became an influential part of the campaign, showcasing the possibilities of simple design that inspires and provokes."
"The rise of technology has allowed everyone to take part in the creative debate and, as Fairey’s poster demonstrates, simple ideas and fast execution can at times have exponential impact."
"In a world of increasing transparency, Government-funded campaigns risk parody immediately and propaganda is quickly assessed."

https://designobserver.com/feature/how-shepard-faireys-hope-poster-helped-elect-donald-trump/39487

"Obama’s message was one of inclusion. His campaign slogan, “Yes we can” was a rallying cry for social justice and grassroots revolution—a deliberate resurrection of the slogan used by the United Farm Workers, Sí se puede."
"The poster’s overtly propagandistic style leveraged a time-tested tradition. It used a strong image and a simple message to embody the collective hopes of a people in the charismatic image of a person."
"Obama’s gaze and isolation are strongly reminiscent of Jim Fitzpatrick’s iconic image of Che Guevara. Even the poster’s flat graphic treatment owes a stylistic debt to its archetypal antecedent (and before Guevara, the heroic images of Lenin and benevolent pictures of Mao that accompanied the Russian and Chinese Cultural revolutions, respectively)."
"Just as Fairey was among those responsible for the mainstream acceptance of street art as art, he inadvertently made overt propaganda an acceptable tool of mainstream American politics."

http://theconversation.com/shepard-faireys-inauguration-posters-may-define-political-art-in-trump-era-71583

"Fairey’s Obama poster was not about a man but rather a heroic, idealised, abstracted icon."
"It showed Obama thoughtfully looking upwards and to the right, into the distance towards the future hopes of the nation. It symbolised the promise of things yet to come, yet to be imagined – in keeping with other leaders elected on aspirations for change, such as Tony Blair or John F Kennedy."
"In Fairey’s image, hope is promised but nothing is specific. It invites the viewer to project their own desires into the icon’s imagination. "
"For all its inspirational power, the poster set itself up to fail by making a personal promise it could not keep. How could one man fulfil the individual hopes of millions of citizens? Once held up as an example of how a political poster could help bring about positive change in the world, now it perhaps serves as a warning that it’s all just propaganda in the end."

https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/hope-to-nope-graphics-and-politics-2008-18/qa-with-shepard-fairey#

Shepard Fairey:
"Most political imagery for mainstream candidates exists in a very safe and predictable zone, which tends to be more about avoiding controversy than inspiring change. I was lucky with the ‘Hope’ poster, in that it was different enough yet also safe enough. A lot of art dealing with social issues can be influential, but it is usually work that was created outside the system."
"In creating a poster that represented him as having a vision, with a stylised and idealised treatment, in a red, white and blue colour combination, I felt I could implicitly portray Obama as established enough to be worthy of an idealised portrait, almost like a two-dimensional statue – patriotic and American rather than being of any specific race."
" I’m happy to see the images reference something that I created on a low budget as someone with very little political power relative to people from the corporate world or the political establishment. The ubiquity of the ‘Hope’ image demonstrates that grass-roots activism makes a difference and that none of us are powerless."