Barack Obama "Hope" Poster - Concept and Design

Concept and Design

Shepard Fairey, who had created earlier political street art critical of government and of George W. Bush, discussed the nascent Obama campaign with publicist Yosi Sergant in late October 2007. Sergant suggested Fairey create some art in support of Obama. Sergant contacted the Obama campaign to seek its permission for Fairey to design an Obama poster, which was granted a few weeks before Super Tuesday. Fairey has said that his decision to create a portrait of Obama stemmed from Fairey's feeling that Obama's "power and sincerity as a speaker would create a positive association with his likeness." Fairey found a photograph of Obama using Google Image Search (eventually revealed to be an April 2006 photo by freelancer Mannie Garcia for The Associated Press) and created the original poster design in a single day. The original image had the word "progress" and featured Fairey's signature obey star—a symbol associated with his Andre the Giant Has a Posse street art campaign—embedded in the Obama campaign's sunrise logo. Due to the Obama campaign’s concerns about the troublesome connotations of the original wording, Fairey changed the slogan printed under Obama’s image from "progress" to "hope."

According to design writer Steven Heller, the poster was inspired by Social Realism and, while widely praised as original and unique, can be seen as part of a long tradition of contemporary artists drawing inspiration from political candidates and producing "posters that break the mold not only in terms of color and style but also in message and tone." Fairey himself has said, "My historical inspiration was the well-known JFK portrait where he is posed in a three-quarters view looking slightly upward and out into the distance. The image of Lincoln on the five- dollar bill has a similar feel."