The Logos That Weren't - Obama's Logo Designer Speaks

[Lunar]

http://www.logodesignlove.com/obama-08-logo-design-options

Logo 1:


Logo 2:


Logo 3:

“We did see the O as standing for something beyond just the first initial of the candidates name.”

Logo 4:

“There was an idea of unity that emerged, particularly when we began to look at the red and blue, and how they intersected.”

Logo 5:

“Before we even arrived at the final identity we were aware of developing a number of options that had an element that stood separate from the typography.”

Logo 6:

“We developed a lot of logos. Usually we only develop two to four, maybe five. There were fifteen, sixteen options, and we focused on three.”


THE FINALISTS:

Logo 7:



“This masking of different photos with the O shape became an opportunity to say different things in different moments… The O could contain all these different ideas, possibilities and feelings.”

Logo 8:



"There was a lot of excitement about this. People felt this was really something new, something different. It was a kind of populist expression — everyone’s excited about Obama, people are talking… (but) it was a little too far out of the box. We felt that having a little more tradition in the mark was the smart way to go.”

Logo 9:
“For me personally, this was always the one.”


Originally the stripes were kind of symmetrically expressed across the horizon, and as we went into final refinements we felt that giving it a little bit more dimension, a little bit more motion, ways to enter into it a little bit more for the viewer was a better way to go.”

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

3, 7, and 9.  The whole merging 8 and B just looks cheesy in my opinion.  Option 1 is OK, but not that great.  8 is too cluttered.  The Exclamation point is just weird.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

I like #2 and #9, but the rest... meh.

[paul718]

3 or 9.  I think they made the right choice, though.

[Bacon King]

I like #2 and #9, but the rest... meh.

^^^^

[Lief 🗽]

I kind of like the 70s (?) aesthetic of the first couple, though I agree that the one they settled on is the best.

[Meeker]

The third one is the only "non-finalist" that I like. I think the first finalist option could've been really successful... the second finalist one was probably a little too odd for most people. It also would've been very easily mockable.

I think they made the right decision in the end though.

[humder]

 The person who created the Obama logo is a genius.

[pragmatic liberal]

I like the two finalists, and I *REALLY* like Finalist #1, but it may have been too radical.

Finalist #2 is cool, but a little too unserious, IMO.

Other than the finalists, I like non-finalists 1 and 2, but not that much.

Overall, the made the right pick I think.

[Platypus]

#9 is the best, but #8 is good too.

[Lunar]

If you want to see the genius, there are two youtube videos here containing further designs and some pretty cool analysis:
http://www.vsapartners.com/news.asp?article=70

[Mint]

I like 6, 7, and 9.

[Speed of Sound]

For some reason, I am totally drawn to number 3, I almost wish they had chosen that. The rest definitely have an air of "we just aren't good enough for the final product"

[Know Your Rights!]

I voted for three and five, before realizing that nine was in there as well.

[Lunar]

For some reason, I am totally drawn to number 3, I almost wish they had chosen that. The rest definitely have an air of "we just aren't good enough for the final product"

Esp #9

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Campaigns shouldn't realise this sort of thing. Makes them look as cynical as they actually are.

[Speed of Sound]

For some reason, I am totally drawn to number 3, I almost wish they had chosen that. The rest definitely have an air of "we just aren't good enough for the final product"

Esp #9

Couldn't just leave me in my liberal ignorance, could you Lunar?  

[Nixon in '80]

1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9...

3 and 7 are probably my favorites.

[phk]

They look like logos for an Operating System.

Logo 7 reminds me of Windows XP's grass/sky background.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Campaigns shouldn't realise this sort of thing. Makes them look as cynical as they actually are.

Shouldn't realize what?

[Lunar]

Realize he meant release

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Realize he meant release

Oh, ok.  And now that Al mentioned it and made me think about it, I kinda agree with him.  This shows that campaigns are all about selling the candidate in the way that will get the most votes - I mean, we talked about this in my campaign-writing class, and these are the types of things that campaign staff DON'T want to show to the voters.