Remixing Knowledge

Most people will recognize at least one of these two posters.  Shepard Fairey, one of the most politically active graphic/street artists in the field right now, created both of these.  The first one sports a patriotic image of 'hopeful' Barack Obama optimistically looking towards a better America.  This was created in 2008 when Obama was running for office, at first independently, before it was approved by the official Obama campaign.  

Now for the one on the right.  There were many 'remixes' of Fairey's original poster, often mocking what they thought was Obama's 'misdirected hope', but Fairey remixed his own poster for another political cause. During the whole Occupy Movement in 2011, he designed this image.  With an anonymous figure representing the "99%", it quickly became one of the iconic images of the Movement.  

R - What is Hope to different people? How much has the 'Hope' campaign actually helped our country? The new image made me think of a different perspective of political and social "hope".  Hope is hard to define in the context of a nation's future.  Depending on who you are, there is a different attitude towards what constitutes as 'good change', and how you are effected from that change.  The Occupy poster gives a voice to the 99% and shows that they're trying to reach out to politicians to give them a voice.

A - The remixed poster arranged it's ideas in the same way as the original piece.  This was most likely intentional because the image was already very recognizable, and that recognition helped strengthen the message the design was trying to convey.  To me, the masked figure in the new design almost has a skeptical feel to it, questioning if Obama is trying to give a sense of 'Hope' to all, or just to some.

I - The image makes you think of the Occupy Movement, and a comparison to the 'Hope' promised to them two years prior.  

D - The colors make the delivery of this piece very effective.  Red, white and blue: the colors of American freedom.  The text "Mr. President, We Hope You're On Our Side" represents every American, of course we all hope he's on our side.  But in a time of protest like the Occupy Movement, the colors and text help say, "Hear our voice, we need you now more than ever."  Great design.

S - Bold and direct.  Like all of Shepard Fairey's work, he's trying to make a statement.  Whether that be a supportive, sarcastic, or degrading statement, all of it is bold and direct.  Both posters, Obama and Occupy, have a very straight-forward message that makes you think and dig below the surface to see why he's making that statement.