On this day...

Obama's first day in his new job started with the traditional Inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington, where 'He's got the whole world in his hands' was one of the numbers performed by the Children's Choir.

Below is a selection of far-and-wide front pages as images of the 44th US President's inauguration resonated across the globe in the last 24 hours.


Kathimerini (Athens, Greece)


Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil)


Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo, Japan)


An Nahar (Beirut, Lebanon)

See Newseum and the Newsdesigner blog for daily front pages from all over the world.

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.

Obama 'Hope' Poster

On the subject of political posters and the Guardian newspaper, there was a story run earlier this week about the above design by Shepard Fairey which has seemingly become a cult image across America during the presidential race. The piece by Laura Barton described how, despite not being officially endorsed by the Obama campaign, the guerilla poster has been embraced and utilised by the public all over the country.


Trying to find out a bit more, I found the interview below from the Henry Rollins Show last year in which Fairey discusses the idea of phenomenology which characterised his famous 'Obey/Andre The Giant has a Posse' street art campaign. His descriptions of the power and purpose of visual imagery in our public space is very interesting, notions the 'Obey' campaign sought to illuminate and it would appear his 'Hope' piece has also transcended, obviously with a far more conspicuous subject.



Following on from this interview, the illuminating arguments of this article on LA artist Mark Vallen's site named 'Art for Change' (there's the number one Obama buzzword) are stirring rebuke. The article highlights Fairey's history of plagiarism of a wide range of political artworks and icons, from the SS Skull moniker to Communist revolutionary and Civil Rights posters from around the world.

"You Decide"

Guardian WW1 Posters

An collection of First World War propaganda posters were given away in yesterday's Guardian. It is interesting to compare the various examples visually; I feel they outline some very distinctive, individual characteristics in their mood, colour, composition, use of language and typography, as well as reflecting respective contemporary artistic styles. All are strong rallying calls, some perhaps with more nationalistic fervour than others.


"Russia - 1917 - Red Navy propaganda poster: 'Long live the vanguard of the revolution'" - Stark, strong composition with simple, comprehensive application of colour (similar to modern tabloids: red, black, white). Hand-made, skill and craft. Futurist.


"Britain - 1913-1918 - Army poster depicting a German zeppelin over London" - Straightforward, bold, resolute, realistic (suggestion of a dreaded future scenario) No-nonsense and strong; facing facts, painting a picture, do something about it.


"US - 1918 - Government poster advertising bonds to finance the American war effort" - Bright, confident, assured; stripes of flag on Uncle Sam's trouser leg. Powerful. Smart leather boot stamping down from above; might, force, overwhelming.


"France - 1918 - Poster for a Parisian Bank aimed at English investors, 'Allied in War, United in Peace'" - Decadent, libertarian, free. Artistic, intellectual; decorative and elegant style


"Germany - 1917 - 'The Kaiser and his people thank the Army and Navy; Christmas gifts from Frankfurt'" - Clean, focussed, determined. Clinical, impersonal (eyes of soldiers masked)