Reverberation

On Inauguration Day, a series of typographic illustrations were printed in the Guardian G2 supplement; a special feature on the campaign speeches of Barack Obama. The introduction to the piece describes how the new President successfully resurrected the art of oratory, "the power of the word".


Cover by David Carson... "Obama, Hope + Change"


Alan Kitching: The 'Take Back America' Speech, 14.06.06, Washington – "This is our time. Our time to make a mark on history. Our time to write a new chapter in the American story."


Mario Hugo: 'The challenge of going into politics, with 'that funny name'', 11.05.06, Washington – "[...the second thing people would ask me was, "You seem like a nice young man. You teach law school, you're a civil rights attorney, you organise voter registration, you're a family man -] Why would you wanna go into something dirty and nasty like politics?"



Peter Horridge: Recollections of his father, 28.08.06, University of Nairobi, Kenya – "In many ways he embodied the new Africa of the early 60s, a man who had obtained the knowledge of the western world, and sought to bring it back home, where he hoped he could create a new nation."


Paula Scher/Pentagram: Night before the US Presidential Election, 03.11.08 – "After decades of broken politics in Washington, eight years of failed policies from George Bush, twenty-one months of campaigning, we are less than one day away from bringing about change in America. Tomorrow you can turn the page on policies that put greed and irresponsibility before hard work and sacrifice. Tomorrow you can choose policies that invest in our middle class, create new jobs and grow this economy so that everybody has a chance to succeed. Not just the CEO but the secretary and the janitor; not just the factory owner but the men and women who work the factory floor. Tomorrow you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that puts reason against reason, and city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope."

The full transcripts of these speeches and many more can be found here.