AlinaWheeler-DesigningBrandIdentity

Process and strategy: In February 2007, BarackObama announced his candidacy for U.S.president. Media outlets from all over the worldwere clamoring for assets, and speed was imperative.Mode Project, a Chicago-based firm workingdirectly for David Axelrod, Obama’s chief politicalstrategist, retained Sol Sender and his firmSender LLC to design the campaign identity.Mode initiated the process by stating clearly whatthe campaign stood for: “Change, reform, unification,a new day, a new beginning.”To gain more insight into the vision of thecandidate, Sender read Obama’s two books, TheAudacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming theAmerican Dream and Dreams from My Father: AStory of Race and Inheritance. Sender’s firm alsoconducted an audit of presidential campaignbranding over the past one hundred years todetermine how far the identity should depart fromtraditional, patriotic visual language. In the end,Sender believed that it was critical to conveytimeless American values, while simultaneouslybreaking new ground.Creative solution: Like the candidate, the identityneeded to be inclusive of Americans of all politicalstripes, races, and creeds. “It was not about theblue states versus the red states; it needed to beabout one united America,” said Sender. Afterexamining a number of primarily typographicapproaches, the campaign decided on an iconicsymbol based on the letter “O”—the first time inAmerican campaign history that a symbol wasused. Radiating from the counterspace of the blue“O” is a soft, white glow, symbolizing the dawn of anew day. The foreground of red and white stripesfurther reinforces the patriotic theme. Thesimplicity of the symbol facilitated use on a varietyof applications, including bumper stickers,banners, buttons, lawn signs, and the campaignwebsite. Interim guidelines were created for thecampaign’s strategic design, social media, andbranding teams, who proceeded to build adynamic and cohesive system.Results: Barack Obama’s messages of hope andchange were clear, distinct, and inspiring–qualitiesthat charged the “O” symbol with a deeper level ofmeaning that resonated with citizens the worldover. So popular was the Obama symbol thatpeople made it their own, spontaneously applyingit to everything imaginable. Citizen-generatedtributes spread through social networking sites,effectively creating the twenty-first century’s firstimpromptu, grassroots presidential campaign.The symbol became an integral part of a socialmedia campaign that forever changed the face ofAmerican politics.Sender and his design team,Andy Keene and AmandaGentry, were able to create atthe speed of light because apowerful, bold idea was clearlyarticulated in the beginning ofthe process.Photo: Megan PaonessaThousands of iterationseverywhere: Facebook, Twitter,cupcakes, cookies, humansculptures—we had neverencountered anything like it inU.S. political history.Sol SenderSol Sender LLC255