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By now you’ve probably all seen the Barack Obama posters designed by Sheppard Fairey. I was made aware of these posters the day they were announced, but refrained from posting after a conversation I had with a fellow designer in which he implied (not directly mind you) that Fairey has copied another designer at every step of his career.

I like Fairey’s work, more for the business model than the design, and, more importantly, I believe Barack Obama can steer this country in a new, better direction.

Here’s an article about the popularity of these poster, on the New York Times’ website:

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/beyond-red-white-and-blue/

The first time I saw this poster, I was excited. My brief conversation curtailed some of that enthusiasm. The non-argument argument cited an article that implied (not accused) Fairey of copying a designer, even though the only real similarities were the public domain images they both used. The article never accused Fairey of copying, but implied it by showing his images next to the others. To say that Fairey is a copy-cat, or worse a plagiarist, would imply that the other designer is as well, as all the images shown were public domain, originally designed as propaganda at various times in the last century.

I think the real basis of the vague argument is the difference between art and design. In my opinion, art is an expression of an individual, pure and simple, where as design is an artist’s expression of something someone paid them to express, to an audience that absolutely must understand it in order for it to work.

Milton Glaser said: “I’ve always believed that the life of a designer is a life that is very much between two sensibilities, that of a business man, and that of the artist.”

The fact of the matter is, Fairey has received more mainstream success than the other designer (whom I shall not name, as I can’t find the article on my own). I believe that art and designer are for the world, and I reject an elitist approach to design. That’s what Obama’s campaign is about, rejecting an elitist government, and re-establishing a government by the people, for the people. Fairey designed these posters for the people, in the interest of a cause that he believes in, as well as millions of Americans of all race, color, and creed.

A friend sent me this link today:

Click

I’m not sure what to think about it. It’s entertaining, though this is better, and I would guess the inspiration behind the above ad. My main problem would be that we can’t turn the animation off, or replay it, if we were so inclined, but that may be because it’s a prototype.

CORRECTION: There is a button to replay at the end of the animation. I thought that button was for replaying the trailer, which isn’t as cool.

In the rhetoric of the last, oh, 6 years or so, I’ve heard the works of George Orwell (a.k.a. Eric Blair) referenced a lot. In particular, his novel 1984, in which a government uses the notion of a foreign war to enact total control over it’s citizens. The book was written in 1948, right around the beginning of the cold war.

If you haven’t read the book, I highly suggest you do. I’ve even given you a link to Amazon so you can purchase it. My copy was free. It was a stamp from my brother’s middle school library. Not sure what that’s all about.

I was reading this article on NPR’s website, and it seems extremely Big Brother (no, not that crappy reality show).

“American citizens must understand, clearly understand that there’s still a threat on the homeland. There’s still an enemy which would like to do us harm,” Bush said. “We’ve got to give our professionals the tools they need, to be able to figure out what the enemy is up to so we can stop it.”

“By blocking this piece of legislation, our country is more in danger of an attack,” he said.

To be clear, if you’re not up on it, the law the President wants in effect is a law that would protect telecoms from law suits. This is not in the interest of the people. It’s in the interest of big business, most assuredly used against the people. This is about control. This is a government that has brought us closer to 1984. They caught us sleeping, dreaming, wishing this hadn’t happened to us, and like a sexual predator, they attacked us when we were most vulnerable with the promise of safety, and it has come at the cost of freedom. But are we really safer? “By your logic, I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.”

Interesting and scary article about the American disdain for knowledge.

I thought it was funny that this banner ad ran right above the story. Susan Jacoby, author of “The Age of American Unreason,” on her experience on 11 September 2001:

“This is just like Pearl Harbor,” one of the men said.

The other asked, “What is Pearl Harbor?”

“That was when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War,” the first man replied.

At that moment, Ms. Jacoby said, “I decided to write this book.”

Call me crazy, but I think this is way better than O Archduke.

My online portfolio won’t be up for a long time, I’m guessing. But, in the interim, here’s a little exercise I did. I found I was a tad rusty, and it took me a few tries to get this, plus I kept crashing the the app trying to get the squares smaller.

It’s not exactly a bold prediction, but with only $25,000 in sales opening weekend, I was right.

Click here to see Keith Olberman and Paul F. Tompkins speak of my great prognostication.