Obama Brand Irony

June 11, 2008 • 8:53 pm • POSTED BY stephen penning

Over the course of the last several months much has been made of the effectiveness of the Obama brand. Michael Bierut stated in a Newsweek Post that, “He’s the first candidate who’s had a coherent, top-to-bottom, 360-degree system at work.” Sam Berlow and Cyrus Highsmith from The Font Bureau spoke in The Boston Globe to the strength of his type choices in communicating a fresh, polished look that has broken from the standards of the past. And Jonathan Hoefler has praised the campaign for being “visually on message at every turn.” 

When brands and messaging are widely embraced the masses often respond with their own take. Think of all the ‘Got Milk’ spin-offs you’ve seen. Or the countless iterations of Mastercard’s ‘priceless’. The irony here is great when you consider that the effect of being cohesive can actually spur people to manipulate [the brand's] standards in an effort to make it their own. Maybe this a sign of a truly great brand?

This post, and the ones that will follow over the ensuing months will highlight Obama work that has been created outside of brand constraints. This first example was seen in Philadelphia on South Street between Broad and 13th.