The above left graphic is Barack Obama’s campaign poster which publicizes (in German) the major address he will make tomorrow in Berlin.
Predictably, once the flyers came out looking “different” from what we’re used to seeing, the Republicans started to throw around their new favorite attack word for Obama: “arrogant.”
They love using it — these days Obama can’t brush his teeth in the morning without the Republicans telling us how the flavor of toothpaste he uses somehow reveals how “breathtakingly arrogant” he is.
“Arrogant,” after all, is the new “uppity.”
But here’s what the Republicans and even some moderate voices are missing: this campaign poster isn’t evidence of a “messiah” complex; it pays homage to a pivotal era in graphic design history: the German Bauhaus movement during the early 20th century (see above right for example).
As I’ve noted elsewhere, Obama’s design team is very, very good — they would know the history of German graphic design. Obama’s Berlin poster contains the same bold, diagonal lines and sanserif type which typifies 1920s -era German “industrial design.” Another example here.
So before the pundits and professional GOP douchebags operatives try to point to Obama’s German flyer as evidence of arrogance, they should take a minute to stop and think whether or not his design team sat down before creating yet another elegant image and said: “When in… Germany, do as the Germans do.”
Many Germans will recognize this little tip-of-the-hat, and those that recognize it will appreciate it. This type of move wouldn’t even occur to the McCain campaign, despite the fact that McCain was born around the time when German Bauhaus was all the rage.
OBAMA’S VIZ MAKES GRAPHIC ARTISTS SWOON
BAM 1 MILLION STRONG IN GERMANY?
Tags: Barack Obama Berlin Poster, Obama graphic design, Obama in Germany, Obama's German Poster
July 23, 2008 at 5:44 pm |
Kudos to you sir!
Well played, indeed.
July 23, 2008 at 6:08 pm |
I want this poster. Guess I’ll have to print it out myself.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/berlin_event/
~Forth
ForthandBack.wordpress.com
July 23, 2008 at 8:58 pm |
So let me see if I got this right:
a.) Obama’s team is very “creative” for taking something out from the old tool box of the German graphic history. Gush… What a creativity, indeed… McCain is being labelled as McOld by some Democrats, but nothing seems to be too OLD for Obama.
b.) Obama is not being arrogant, despite the fact that he is openly campaigning in Europe despite being “just” a presumptive Democratic nominee. Perhaps next years the French, British and German will return the favour and start to wash their own dirty political laundry in Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, maybe giving a small anti-American speech at gettysburg to boost the anti-american voting base at home etc; and
c.) because of a.) and b.) Obama should be the new president of USA.
The new “messiah” should be careful, indeed. We in Europe have a very good proverb which says that those “who are flying high, usually drop the the ground very quickly”.
This all said I am disappointed how American Democrats are using the Europeans for their own political agenda. Like we are some sort of a colony to the United States. But then again after carefully screening the behaviour and deeds of our incompent political elites we can conclude that maybe we are.
July 23, 2008 at 10:11 pm |
industrial design???
July 24, 2008 at 7:44 am |
[...] –Meaningful Distraction likes it, too: The above left graphic is Barack Obama’s campaign poster which publicizes (in German) the major address he will make tomorrow in Berlin. [...]
July 24, 2008 at 8:59 am |
I have a great interest in design and no particular political party affiliation, and I appreciate the graphic atristry behind this poster. I have read a few of the objections raised on conservative blogs, and I have not encountered many tirades against Obama’s arrogance in this instance: rather, they seem to object to the political overtones of the poster. I disagree with your characterization that republicans do not recognize an homage to bauhaus and other early 20th-century design; on the contrary, they are (I believe rightly so) shocked by any politician connecting himself to the politics of this era in design, and in Germany, no less! (The equivalent: while Soviet-era posters are breathtaking and influential examples of graphic design when hung harmlessly in museums, it would seem unfeeling and crass — not to mention sending the wrong message — for a politician to portray himself in a soviet-era light when visiting Russia.) I am personally surprised that Obama did not foresee the implications of putting his face (in victorious profile!) on a campaign poster mimicking early 20th-century German design. Not that I would draw such a comparison really, but Hitler, too, was a great orator with a promising political start.
People are still alive who lived through these times of extreme governement control, and they remember more than the posters. Let us not reduce any era of fascism just to its design elements, lest we forget what ideologies they accompanied.
July 24, 2008 at 10:00 am |
… because naturally ALL Germans in the early 20th century were Nazi supporters, therefore any echo of any aspect at all of Germany between 1900 and 1945 is automatically ‘fascist’. Yeah. And the Nazi propagandists loved sans-serif fonts, bright primary colours and modernist geometry…
Anyone who can’t tell the difference between a Bauhaus poster and a Nazi poster ought by rights to be too stupid to operate a computer.
July 24, 2008 at 10:23 am |
The irony in the conservatives in all of this is that Hitler actually made a big deal out of this and closed down the Bauhaus. This work is about as Nazi as Obama is. It has been my experience that conservatives in the US usually don’t venture in the waters of design, much less design history, so this really doesn’t surprise me they would be idiots about this.
Another funny coincidence is that Obama hails from Chicago, which is the same place where many Germans who were affiliated with the Bauhaus fled to. He seems to be the type who appreciates the substance in style as he has embraced it in his campaign.
July 24, 2008 at 10:28 am |
I saw this as more of a hybrid between New Typography (Jan Tschichold, Bauhaus) and Russian Constructivism (especially with the image of Obama). It is a good design and takes influence from not only early 20th century German design, but from early-mid century European design in general—with a modern take. I think people are getting too hung up on the idea that it is strictly a German thing, I think it is less of a case of ‘When in Germany…’ and more of a ‘When in Europe…’.
July 24, 2008 at 10:48 am |
This would be an intelligent analysis if you didn’t resort to kindergarten name-calling…[douchebag]!
July 24, 2008 at 11:13 am |
[...] Link: Meaningful Distractions Blog [...]
July 24, 2008 at 12:12 pm |
Agree with @BobSommers. Why not refute the argument that the poster represents a messiah complex, rather than call names? That seems a little counterproductive for refuting the very real perception of arrogance by a lot of people. “Obama’s not arrogant, you ignorant redneck douchebags!”
July 24, 2008 at 12:21 pm |
Check out this site. Some funny stuff.
http://obamaformessiah.com
July 24, 2008 at 12:31 pm |
Fantastic! Obama’s graphics are always intelligent and masterful. Great to see his Berlin poster here which I’m sure will become a collector’s item. Where can I get one?
July 24, 2008 at 12:32 pm |
Berlin won’t save Obama from Nostradamus and/or McCain…
http://preeedict.blogspot.com/2008/02/mabus-barack-hussein-obama-and-michel.html
Have a nice one!
July 24, 2008 at 1:02 pm |
Fred, you make his visit to Germany out to be something completley different than it actually is. The presidend of America is a world leader, and he should make a concerned effort to be a leader for all countries in the world, not just for his own. I don’t know if any of you are fans of Bill Richardson, but when asked by GQ about the way that Obama would be received by the rest of the world he had this to say:
“When he takes the oath of office and an Arab in a souk in Egypt sees that image, along with a Nigerian in a market in Lagos, that singular moment will do more to transform American foreign policy in a most healthy way than anything else. The fact that somebody with his ethnicity and diversity and international background is sworn in, it’s gonna be a huge signal to the world that America is changing.”
The goal is to campaign across the globe to become a president that is well received across the globe.
If you want to read the rest of the inereview the link is:
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/2008/04/title.html
July 24, 2008 at 10:20 pm |
Isn’t ironic? Conservative contemptuous of intelligent design? Who woulda thunkit?
July 24, 2008 at 11:51 pm |
So much concern trolling here!!
Yes, tsk tsk. How could you use such coarse language?
I think the “douchebags” should not have been deleted–it was perfect.
July 25, 2008 at 12:26 am |
[...] blog hopping today I found an interesting post at Meaningful Distractions. I have long since been a fan of both Obama and the Bauhaus Institute, one of the first institutes [...]
July 25, 2008 at 10:16 am |
[...] Above and to the left is a flyer handed out to advertise Barack Obama’s speech at the Victory Column at Tiergarten Park in Berlin not “Messiah Complex” but a crisp cross hybrid of (Jan Tschichold, Bauhaus, on the right) and Russian Constructivism that pulls from early 20th century German design and mid-century modern European work. The two posters embrace the ideals of the Bauhaus in that they are clearly functional, economical and above all honest in their use of space. They are an expansive unification of art and technology that rejects the overblown excess of the Bush Administration’s last 8 years and the bourgeois McCain campaign. Love the nostalgic nod to the accelerating internationalization of American culture in the postwar period. (More info at Meaningful Distractions) [...]
July 25, 2008 at 4:39 pm |
Well, this conservative thinks the poster is beautiful. But it’s obvious it was prepared for American audiences, or more specifically his fans and campaign workers. Otherwise, why write “Berlin / Deutschland” on the poster? Every Berliner knows where the Siegessaule is.
July 26, 2008 at 7:43 pm |
All of you wonderful “non-conservatives” are missing the point. I’m a graphics designer myself, and it’s a great design… but conservatives aren’t worried about the design qualities or whether its intelligent or not. You all fret about which early arts movement it reflects, you ooh and ahhh about the subtle shadings. But you can’t see the fascistic flavor and smell wafting from it? The adoring throngs; the messiah complex surrounding everything he does, the international socialism, the re-design of the presidential seal, the coronation at mile-high stadium… none of this rings any alarm bells?
If Obama is really a fascist leader – and I mean this in the actual technical definition, not the idiot definition that is thrown around to slander Bush – then we will see certain common elements at this stadium show.
It will be produced like Hitler’s early propaganda films at Stadiums exactly like that. It will feature synchronized marching (think goose stepping), common symbols being displayed/worn (think armbands), the elevation of certain “supporters” over another (creation of a “brown shirts”), and maybe even a nice round of black power saluting (zieg heil!)…
…and all any of you will be able to comment on is the breathtaking video production and the colors he used on the stage backdrop, and how its a hat-tip to an earlier design movement. And you will be breathless.
But conservatives will see it for what it is, and be very very worried.
July 27, 2008 at 11:52 pm |
[...] Obama’s Berlin poster is causing consternation on the right wing because they see its nod to Bauhaus design as “arrogant.” Granted, Obama can’t get out of bed these days without being called “arrogant,” but it’s interesting that the Republicans are now equating taste and design with arrogance and liberalism. Makes me pretty proud to be an arrogant graphic designing liberal. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. [...]
July 28, 2008 at 2:17 am |
I would say jrobinson is going to be disappointed when throngs of jackbooted liberals don’t come marching into Mile High Stadium for Obama’s acceptance speech. But, considering he was able to read “Obama is a fascist” into the fact that Obama’s graphic designers used — the shock! — German design to advertise to German people, I’m thinking he’s going to see whatever he wants to at the event.
July 28, 2008 at 8:33 am |
[...] • Another home run for the Obama design team. That’s his campaign poster on the left which publicizes (in German) the major address he will make tomorrow in Berlin. The right is a classic example of design from the German Bauhaus movement during the early 20th century, which Obama’s poster pays tribute to. Very appropriate considering the venue and a subtle nod to German design history. (Via Meaningful Distraction) [...]
July 29, 2008 at 2:56 pm |
Congratulations, jrobinson, you’re the first here to truly prove Godwin’s Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin’s_law)
July 29, 2008 at 6:52 pm |
[...] Above: Gruss aus Deutschland. Via Typeoff and Fontblog, recommended by Verena Gerlach, the event poster for Obama’s recent speech in Berlin. The PDF files are available though the Obama campaign, and have been critiqued in the Huffington Post and Meaningful Distractions. [...]
July 31, 2008 at 11:07 am |
[...] But I think Joshua Marshall is right here. I’ve said elsewhere that I believe “arrogant is the new uppity.” [...]
August 1, 2008 at 7:35 am |
[...] via [...]
September 6, 2008 at 4:35 pm |
Correct url to copied source:
http://preeedict.blogspot.com/2008/08/nostradamus-obama-mccain-and-mabus.html
What else is new?
September 18, 2008 at 3:33 pm |
[...] via Compartilhe: [...]
October 19, 2008 at 10:56 pm |
[...] sources moveon.org meaningful distractions obama art report creative [...]
November 26, 2008 at 1:04 pm |
love the black hair guy, Obama:)
-Paris Hilton
April 6, 2009 at 12:17 am |
The poster reveals the message and is very symbolic.
April 15, 2009 at 7:44 am |
After reading through this article, I just feel that I need more information on the topic. Can you suggest some more resources please?