8 replies to this topic

[Casey Greene]

This is from the Hoefler & Frere-Jones' blog. They designed Obama's font of choice, Gotham:

 change_08.jpg   25.78K   404 downloads
A journalist recently asked what it is about Gotham that we think suits the Obama campaign. We'll defer to designers John Slabyk and Scott Thomas to make that call — they selected the font for Obama for America, we merely provided it — but one thing we can say as type designers is that Gotham isn't pretending to be anything it's not, which makes it an unusual and refreshing choice for a campaign. Political typefaces have a way of being chosen because they underscore (or imagine) some specific aspect of a candidate, working hard to convey "traditional values" or "strength and vigilance," or any number of graspable populist notions. The only thing Gotham works hard at is being Gotham.

2008 is clearly a year of unusual thinking in political circles, because none of these familiar approaches can explain the utterly confounding typographic dress chosen by Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Hillary's snooze of a serif might have come off a heart-healthy cereal box, or a mildly embarrassing over-the-counter ointment; if you're feeling generous you might associate it with a Board of Ed circular, or an obscure academic journal. But Senator McCain's typeface is positively mystifying: after three decades signifying a very down-market notion of luxe, this particular sans serif has settled into being the font of choice for the hygiene aisle. One of McCain's campaign themes is "Making Tough Choices:" is this the one you would have made? — H&FJ
 typography_com_mccain_hillary.jpg   28.88K   428 downloads

Pretty funny take, but the fonts aside, open up Obama's, Clinton's, and McCain's intro-splash-page to their website, and see which one looks better. I don't know who i'm voting for but kudos to the Obama design team.

Oh, there is a video interview with Hoefler & Frere-Jones about the Gotham font here.

[Spaniard]

I immediately noticed it. I always strive to put appropriate fonts in my work and have used Gotham and Gotham Rounded a number of times. More background here, worth a read.

Obama font

HF&J are incredibly intelligent guys -- I always enjoy reading their insights into typography and design.

This is from the Hoefler & Frere-Jones' blog. They designed Obama's font of choice, Gotham:

 change_08.jpg   25.78K   404 downloads
A journalist recently asked what it is about Gotham that we think suits the Obama campaign. We'll defer to designers John Slabyk and Scott Thomas to make that call — they selected the font for Obama for America, we merely provided it — but one thing we can say as type designers is that Gotham isn't pretending to be anything it's not, which makes it an unusual and refreshing choice for a campaign. Political typefaces have a way of being chosen because they underscore (or imagine) some specific aspect of a candidate, working hard to convey "traditional values" or "strength and vigilance," or any number of graspable populist notions. The only thing Gotham works hard at is being Gotham.

2008 is clearly a year of unusual thinking in political circles, because none of these familiar approaches can explain the utterly confounding typographic dress chosen by Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Hillary's snooze of a serif might have come off a heart-healthy cereal box, or a mildly embarrassing over-the-counter ointment; if you're feeling generous you might associate it with a Board of Ed circular, or an obscure academic journal. But Senator McCain's typeface is positively mystifying: after three decades signifying a very down-market notion of luxe, this particular sans serif has settled into being the font of choice for the hygiene aisle. One of McCain's campaign themes is "Making Tough Choices:" is this the one you would have made? — H&FJ
 typography_com_mccain_hillary.jpg   28.88K   428 downloads

Pretty funny take, but the fonts aside, open up Obama's, Clinton's, and McCain's intro-splash-page to their website, and see which one looks better. I don't know who i'm voting for but kudos to the Obama design team.

Oh, there is a video interview with Hoefler & Frere-Jones about the Gotham font here.

[frax]

I am going to launch my presidential campaign using comic sans.

[Hans van der Maarel]

I am going to launch my presidential campaign using comic sans.

Eeeek!

[Esther Mandeno]

I am going to launch my presidential campaign using comic sans.

I'll run against you using Impact!

[frax]

I still haven't decided who I should run with, for the vice-presidential candidate? maybe we should merge our campaigns?

[Esther Mandeno]

I still haven't decided who I should run with, for the vice-presidential candidate? maybe we should merge our campaigns?

Hmm, I'm not sure what comic sans and impact would merge into? Maybe Franklin Gothic or Lucida Sans?

What would our platform be? I say equal width and height for all!

[electric angel]

i looked at that obama image at the top of this post and wondered 'why is he promoting chanel perfume?'

[Thomas Welk]

This is from the Hoefler & Frere-Jones' blog. They designed Obama's font of choice, Gotham:

Is this font downloadable or can we get it somewhere? It kinda reminds me during his presidential campaign.