Behind the Scenes: the Making of the Obama “O”
EmailABC News’ Sunlen Miller reports: The creator of the now-famous Obama logo — the "O" that adorned campaign brochures, signs and all manner of paraphernalia — has given an interview to his new employer, VSA Partners, about the development of the image. The 15-minute on-camera interview with Sol Sender can be found here. Sender tells the birth story of the logo, from the initial two weeks he had to come up with 15 ideas in late 2006, to the redesign, and then to final conversations with the Obama campaign about their intended message. “There was an initial charge to do something different," Sender says, "So from the start that was the primary creative direction from the client. And we immediately read both of Sen. Obama’s books and zeroed in on a couple passages that talked about change and hope, but we were very interested in this idea of there not being red states and blue states but there being one country and erasing those kinds of boundaries.” Sender says that since there would be a question about Obama’s experience the team decided — no matter what — to use red, white and blue to send a patriotic message. The 15 logos created (which Sender shows off during his interview) were narrowed down to these three top options: #1 – Sender says that they liked how the “Ob” in Obama’s name reflected an “08″ image.
#2 Sender deemed this design as one that was ultimately too “out of the box,” but it was in contention because the logo seemed to generate excitement, suggesting people were talking about Obama’s campaign. “We felt like it was a populist expression,” Sender says.
#3 The winner: Sender says that, for him, it was always clear that this design was "the one," but its selection had been a matter of debate. “For the client and the other members of the team, they felt very good about some of the other options and it wasn’t so clear,” he said. Sender talks about the various redesigns this logo went though to come up with the final, now famous product.
Sender handed over the reins on the design in 2007 when the Obama campaign brought in a new team of designers to incorporate and adapt the logo across many facets of the campaign. "We knew that it was a strong mark but I don’t think we realized how a grassroots movement could impact the uses of the logo and an expression of the identity. And then it took on this viral expression," Sender says of the outcome. "I am pleased that it helped to get his message out there as powerfully as it did." –Sunlen Miller
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O for “Off the chain”
O for “OMG, I’m heard”
O for “Outside Chicago politics”
O for “08!”
oooo!
I like it!
Posted by: Common Sense | December 13, 2008, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
Yeah, it does look like the logo… What a loser
Posted by: John | December 13, 2008, 6:59 pm 6:59 pm
James,
Trademark? Did you mean Service Mark? Public service. Did you forget that Obama didn’t barter (trade) his old Senate seat, so a ‘trademark’ would not be appropriate.
oooo!
O for “Off the chain”
O for “OMG, I’m heard”
O for “Outside Chicago politics”
O for “08!”
oooo!
Posted by: Common Sense | December 13, 2008, 7:21 pm 7:21 pm
James,
let go. The election is over. A new day is coming, get used to it. President Obama–just repeat that over and over.
President Obama for the next 8 years. BTW, the new Gallup poll has his favorability rating increasing over 70%.
Posted by: Logical | December 13, 2008, 7:22 pm 7:22 pm
Doesn’t Oprah have rights to the letter O?
Posted by: Huh | December 13, 2008, 7:27 pm 7:27 pm
Concerned knows a lot about Sarah’s church. I don’t. Fitzgerald, where are you?? Calling Fitzgerald!
Concerned, the AIP wasn’t all that pleased with the outcome of their leader, so the AIP is probably a better tree to bark up than us dems who think she’s not worthy of attention.
I could care less about Sarah’s next drama, really.
Posted by: Common Sense | December 13, 2008, 7:44 pm 7:44 pm
Concerned in OH, got link to facts? Otherwise, spew here. Jake loves it when you do.
Oh, what was that about the Ayers controversy? Keep it coming. How’d that work out for McCain/Palin as an election strategy?
Posted by: Common Sense | December 13, 2008, 7:51 pm 7:51 pm
I think a single O is not as powerfull. A duble OO would be much more powerfull.
Posted by: Jack | December 13, 2008, 8:11 pm 8:11 pm
Double the OOs with a guadruple the OOs. OOOO is so much sexier, yes?
Posted by: Common Sense | December 13, 2008, 8:22 pm 8:22 pm
I know this is going to sound really strange but I just don’t care about Obama’s logo.
Posted by: jan | December 13, 2008, 8:39 pm 8:39 pm
O-FORCE ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Joe6Pack | December 13, 2008, 8:50 pm 8:50 pm
Yep looks alot like the old weather underground symbol.The one with a rainbow inside a circle.
Posted by: me too | December 13, 2008, 9:15 pm 9:15 pm
0 or 00, no difference. ZERO is ZERO.
Posted by: moron | December 13, 2008, 9:31 pm 9:31 pm
‘Viral.’
Yea, like the ebola virus.
Posted by: Susan | December 13, 2008, 9:41 pm 9:41 pm
O brother.
Posted by: hillbillyjim | December 13, 2008, 9:49 pm 9:49 pm
george bush’ logo for the country was the digit next to the ring finger, and it is not the pinkie finger.
we did not see it, but we sure are feeling it.
Posted by: bush the USA | December 13, 2008, 9:52 pm 9:52 pm
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun.
Oh, mothers, tell your children, please
This ain’t what we call fun.
He swore there could no contact be
As if there were no Rahms
So mothers lift your eyes and see
The day of Pat Fitz dawns.
===================
Posted by: kim | December 13, 2008, 9:53 pm 9:53 pm
….and you thought The Clintons were symbolism over substance.
Sheesh.
Posted by: Kenny Solomon | December 13, 2008, 9:55 pm 9:55 pm
george bush’ O logo for the country stood for:
Ouch!-bush’ presidency is gonna hurt.
Posted by: bush the USA | December 13, 2008, 10:06 pm 10:06 pm
Jake,
i like #1 the most, but the third was a charm i guess. the second one was not so hot. thanks for the story. it’s funny that your story is basically about graphic design art merging with a client’s image and message and the haters are talking about nothing relevant and spinning conspiracy theories on whatever blog, no matter what the subject.
shake the haters off!, lol.
Posted by: Paul Wall | December 13, 2008, 10:13 pm 10:13 pm
what about a combination of #1 and #3. it’s not too late for the inauguration.
Posted by: Paul Wall | December 13, 2008, 10:14 pm 10:14 pm
Concerned,
he should have gone with a backwards B, right?
__________________________________________
Huh,
C’mon now.. I think you are better than these comments you are making. How about sharing your thoughts on the DOE appointment?
Posted by: Question | December 13, 2008, 10:59 pm 10:59 pm
This is as ridiculous as that stupid “Office of the President Elect” sign and the fake seal that idiot has at ever presser.
There is no such official office. It’s just that empty suits ego!
How many even understand that Obama is not officially the “president-elect”?
The electors don’t vote until the 15th.
And with 4 cases at the United States Supreme Court DEMANDING Obama prove he is eligible under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, it’s anyone’s guess how that vote will go.
There is also a case in California, that has 4 state certified electors as complainants, demanding the same.
At any rate, Obama doesn’t officially become president elect, until Congress certifies the vote on January 6th.
This little banana republic dictator wanna-be needs to get over himself!
Posted by: GP | December 13, 2008, 11:20 pm 11:20 pm
The final “O” logo lends itself to easy cookie designs. Go to Lapaz Farm Home Learning, search for “election celebration”, and see how one homeschooling mom and her kids “celebrated” the election by making those blasted O cookies.
A catholic homeschooling mom, that is. Go figure.
Posted by: carder | December 13, 2008, 11:33 pm 11:33 pm
“it’s anyone’s guess how that vote will go.”
get over it, he’s in. in spite of Bush’s best attempts, not even the supreme court is so dumb to touch those lawsuits. granted the signs are stupid but so is acting like a sore loser…
Posted by: MIguy | December 13, 2008, 11:35 pm 11:35 pm
many of his logos and poster are just like the old communist poster. If you saw them side by side, you could see his team stole the ideas from.
Just like he is not the first leader to run on a platform of the exact words “Hope and Change”. It was done in the late 30′s in Germany.
Posted by: Deliah | December 14, 2008, 12:01 am 12:01 am
m-O-rons still.
Posted by: runCMD | December 14, 2008, 12:19 am 12:19 am
Barack has been involved in the “pay to play” Chicago way for a long time. Obots like to point out how angry Blagojevich was at Barack. Yeah he is angry because Blagojevich knows very well that Barack plays this game and when Barack initially didn’t agree to his demands he got mad.
Who would approach the next President with this crap unless that person already knows that the President to be is really dirty?
Posted by: cspolj | December 14, 2008, 4:49 am 4:49 am
O is for One nation.
Posted by: HopeForChange | December 14, 2008, 8:22 am 8:22 am
Gary,
I can tell the bush adm. has made you complete mad.
that was just a long list of drivel.
the only reason we are in this mess is
because of:
george w. bush and his friends he carried with him to run the country.
george w. bush, had many times he could have fixed or avoided some of the things that have happened, but they were to blind and dumb, or just did not care, as long as they were getting their, to do anything.
i find it interesting that you have all of this so called scandalous stuff on obama. and most of us know very little about george w. bush. (many don’t want to know him either, but that is not the point)
george w bush, has made a mess of this country, just as he has anything else he had put his hand in.
he should be leaving the white house headed to a courthouse somewhere, but he is not. going to get off scott free.
Gary, with the country in the mess it is in, why are you going on about such?
who would you prefer to be up there in dc about the take on this bag of blues george bush is handing off?
Posted by: bush the USA | December 14, 2008, 8:40 am 8:40 am
Gee, a knock-off of the old Masonite logo — and $750 million dollars — did the trick for these mobsters.
Meanwhile, the “Obama” organization is gearing up to style itself “CommunityOrganizer.org” in California, the better to head off any pro-democracy movement in the US, including the General Strike for National Health.
Posted by: Belle Starr | December 14, 2008, 9:39 am 9:39 am
Don’t push it, Jake Tapper. The “Ob” is not a mirror reflection of “08″. If you have nothing interesting and accurate to report on, take a day off and do more extensive research.
Posted by: Andrew | December 14, 2008, 9:49 am 9:49 am
The Bush years will soon be remembered as the “Good Old Days”.
Posted by: btenney | December 14, 2008, 11:22 am 11:22 am
THIS IS MOHAMMADAN IMAGERY, PURE AND SIMPLE:
BLUE: The hue of the blue and the placement of the disk denote SUNSET. “The sun is setting on America” is a common imprecation among enemies, more recently used by Ahmedinejad.
DISK: That’s not the sun, it’s THE MOON. Brilliantly, it’s both: on stickers where the outline of the disk is a solid line, it can be a sun — SUNSET, of course. On some images, there is white haze surrounding the disk, which is common when looking at a MOONRISE.
STRIPES: It’s no accident that the very thing upon which people walk upon, the hills upon which they tread are the STARS & STRIPES. Conjure up the image of Ayers standing atop an American Flag in the gangway of some Chicago slum.
It’s simple: Obama and his campaign chose an image to tell the world that American Goodness is setting and the time for evil to prevail, “This is our time,” according to Obama, is at hand.
Posted by: Enemy Recognitionist | December 14, 2008, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm
the bush years will soon be remember as the good old days.
only in a fairy tale of some of his crews making.
the republicans know they put before us a dumb dud, and it has put this country in shambles, and they would still love to bring this country down.
you know who the most unpatriotic people are in the usa
the republicans.
their motto is: If they can’t run it and have it all, they will tear it up.
it is sad and shameful.
the day will come in this country where we will not have partisian politics.
and maybe it will happen sooner than later.
Posted by: bush the USA | December 14, 2008, 12:37 pm 12:37 pm
Ememy Rec.
did you see the george bush symbol when he came into office?
probally not, because bush and co. shut the people out.
bush’ symbol for the us is he and his crew riding all over the country.
so the stripes turned to skid marks.
and he told you and the rest of us to shut up about what he was doing or he and co. would label you unpatriotic.
bush the decided-decided to walk all over the american people,
enemy recog. you were bushed, just like the rest of us.
Posted by: bush the USA | December 14, 2008, 12:42 pm 12:42 pm
Let me know who this guy is going to work for and I’ll then know what not to buy.
Posted by: midwestlady | December 14, 2008, 2:08 pm 2:08 pm
the truth is gary,
there should be hundreds of lawsuits being filed all over this country,
to convict george bush and co. for war crimes.
Posted by: bush the USA | December 14, 2008, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm
Buy from?
Bush is leaving you some money to Buy something?
bush has just about emptied everyone elses pocket.
wow, midwestlady,
you are lucky.
Posted by: bush the USA | December 14, 2008, 2:15 pm 2:15 pm
Logo, what a joke, Barrack Obama makes things up as he goes along and does what he wants. How many people have to show their birth certificate throughout their life for jobs, the military, drivers license, etc? Yet Barrack Obama has NOT shown his has he! Add to that his hidden college grades and thesis just to name a couple. There are several lawsuits against Barrack Obama about his eligibility to be POTUS. Now lets see……produce an original birth certificate (vault) for a few dollars or spend thousands and thousands of dollars and hire several law firms to fight it. It’s really a no brainer for me………..but it looks like for others they would rather fight it.
Posted by: Richard | December 14, 2008, 2:46 pm 2:46 pm
richard,
obama has shown all of that to everyone who wanted to see, where were you?
now on the other hand, and much more serious
richard, where did bush tell you the
wmd’ are?
you know the ones that have caused over four thousand of our soldiers to be killed.
Richard, you should be leading the charge for charging bush for war crimes.
he is still the president, maybe to late to impeach
richard, wouldn’t you really like to see justice served?
bush for war crimes?
Posted by: bush the USA | December 14, 2008, 5:25 pm 5:25 pm
The Big Fat Zero, mmmmmmmm very nice!
Posted by: Oliva | December 14, 2008, 9:12 pm 9:12 pm
The Wizard wants us to follow the red brick road.
Posted by: Menlo Bob | December 15, 2008, 2:21 am 2:21 am
21st century reality,
“The Republican lies about unions is symptomatic of this. It’s OK for the CEO’s to get millions per year in salary and bonus’s, regardless of performance… but the ‘common’ worker must be viewed as a threat if they seek better pay and work conditions. Historically, it’s easy to see what happened to workers before unions, brutal treatment, child labor and death. Republicans fear equality more than they fear death.”
So true, so true. Republicans fear equality more than they fear death! They are hell-bent on crippling the poor and middle-class.
They may not have won the elections, but their economic terrorism are working. They outsourced our jobs, insourced foreign labor, and attack the unions as a matter of maintaining their own ‘better than thou’ status.
Posted by: Lights On | December 15, 2008, 5:52 am 5:52 am