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June 18, 2008
Obama prefers Hope
I talked to street artist Shepard Fairey about his Barack Obama posters, which you can't miss if you're driving pretty much anywhere in L.A. these days. Using a red, white and blue color palette, the Obama 'Hope' and 'Progress' prints were, for some, as memorable a part of the recent Democratic nomination process as all the talk of poor people and their guns.
Fairey created the poster two weeks before Super Tuesday, and asked a friend with Kennedy connections to make sure the Obama camp was cool with the idea—he is, after all, a street artist who has been arrested several times for vandalism, and didn't want to create any awkward situations for the man he hoped would become President. Word came back that while the Obama campaign couldn't officially support Fairey, they were fans of his work.
Fairey put 700 posters in to production, 350 of which would go on the street, bearing the words "Progress" or "Hope". When they sold out he made 10,000 more, and shortly before beginning his second production run, he heard word from Obama's people again—they loved 'Hope', and felt that was the best message for Fairey to pursue. Fairey's next batch of posters was all ‘Hope’ and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Obama campaign posters are sold out, to purchase other Shepard Fairey prints visit the Obey Giant store here.
June 18, 2008 in LOS ANGELES | Permalink
Comments
Nice poster! The red color captures the essence of Obama. Hope is good slogan however Worker od The World Unite. would be more appropriate
Posted by Six pack Joe | Jun 28 2008 6:12PM
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