Saturday, February 2, 2008

Obama '08



I promise I'm not going to turn this into a political blog, but here's a quick drawing I did this afternoon of Barack Obama—a good exercise in trying to capture a likeness of someone who is (or, hopefully, soon will be) immediately recognizable to everyone. I'm not sure I quite captured him (there's a little hint of Reinhold in there that's kind of strange), but for a 20-minute sketch it's not half bad...

Anyway, far be it from me to tell anyone how to vote, I'm just excited to finally have a candidate I want to vote for instead of always voting against the opposing candidate. And what the hell, I've gone this far, I may as well throw in the video of Obama's South Carolina speech, on the off chance someone out there may not have seen it yet, because it's one hell of a speech and well worth watching, especially if you're on the fence.



Does it help bring this back on topic if I point out that, regardless of your political beliefs, the Obama campaign sure does have some surprisingly nice graphic design for a political campaign? That "O" sunrise logo (apparently put together by a designer from Chicago named Sol Sender) is ingenious. A little too fond of the "glow" effect, maybe, but still, very effective...



Okay, that's enough politics for tonight—next post, back to nonpartisan design talk...

4 comments:

Kid Shay said...

I came across your blog by way of the Criterion Collection website; I have to say I really like your work. That cover for Berlin Alexanderplatz is one of my favorites from Criterion.

I would love to get this Obama image on a t-shirt. Do you have a Cafe Press store for your work?

Neil MacLean said...

excellent- portrait and post. I'm also quite excited to vote FOR someone. Probably for the first time in the 12 years I've voted.

Anonymous said...

I'm humbled by your talent. I'm one of those guys who buys a new criterion, and then will just sit and hold it, oogling the design for a good half hour before I even watch the discs. So glad I found this blog.

Eric Skillman said...

Kid Shay—
No Cafepress store, sorry (and I wouldn't feel right selling that image anyway), but I did upload a highres version a few days ago, so if you want to print it out onto a T-shirt transfer and make your own, feel free: http://ericskillman.blogspot.com/2008/02/obama-08-update.html

sixfive—
Ditto. And thanks!

Jordan—
Wow, thanks. That's some really high praise there. Glad you found the blog: I hope seeing how the sausages are made (so to speak) doesn't spoil the experience for you.