It’s everywhere.

Typography plays an important part in our life - more and more we are receiving our information visually. Just think how many different kinds of written communications you come across in a regular week: sign posts, notices, flyers, menus, emails, shop signage, web-banners, posters, billboards, magazines, news-papers, catalogues, TV shows (particularly news stations), and of course the internet.

To stand out in this crowded environment requires something special. Striking. Different. One way to do this is creative use of typography - particularly working type into existing imagery.

Dual Coding Theory.

In the 1960’s, Allen Paivio - a professor at the University of Western Ontario as well as a champion body builder - theorized that the human brain processes visual and verbal information differently. This was tested by showing people a series of images and a series of words, and recording their recollection of each set. These tests revealed that peoples are better at recalling images when allowed to do so in any order, but found it easier to recall words sequentially. Further to this, research later proved that memory for spoken word can be increased if presented alongside related visual stimuli - and visa versa.

As far as the written word goes, Dual-Coding theory helps us understand how the brain acts when we read something - be it a book, a leaflet, a menu or an advertisement - and speculates that our brains use both the phonological oenological information presented to help us translate the shapes we see into letters, words, sentences, and ultimately establish some form of meaning.

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Obama/Hansen ‘08

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Scott Hansen’s work (aka Tycho, aka ISO50) - I check his blog pretty much daily, his music is in the top 10 artists on my LastFM playlist, and my walls are adorned by his brilliant prints.

Well today I found out that Scott was approached by Barak Obama to produce a campaign poster; and he’s done a great job.

True to form, Scott has produced a great piece of work for this campaign, and I’m happy to see he is getting the attention he deserves as one of the most creative graphic designers in the business today.

Change will do you good

The image itself isn’t quite what I was expecting from Scott at all. He’s really scaled back the retro-futurist feel, the Soviet inspired repeating patterns, the warm sepia tones, and worn textures that have long been a staple of his work. Instead we get something a little more fresh, a little more traditional, and a little less challenging. The imagery is all pretty obvious; roots/strength, tree/growth, people/harmony, blue/red divide coming together - all around the central ‘O’ Obama logo. And a simple statement sums it all up at the bottom. Progress.

an oldie, but a goodie…

Whilst it’s all a little cliché, it works thanks to both Hansen’s attention to detail, flare for composition, and the existing sentiment of the Obama campaign (oh come on - the whole “Change” thing was pretty damn corny).

Sure it’s not as iconic as Shepard Fairey’s offering, but there is something inherently creepy about adorning your walls with images of political figures - especially living ones. Oddly enough, it’s because of this that Fairey’s work reminds me more of the Soviet era that so inspires Hansen’s other work.

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