Gotham: Barack Obama’s favorite font

Posted on December 28th, 2009 by admin

Can the right font make the difference in a media-driven election? Barack Obama’s campaign is increasingly using the font Gotham for their “Change We Can Believe In” banners and other material. In this outtake from Gary Hustwit’s 2007 documentary “Helvetica”, type designers Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones discuss the creation of Gotham. The font was originally commissioned for GQ Magazine, and the list of qualities they were looking for then sounds surprisingly Obama-esque now. http://www.helveticafilm.com/blog

Duration : 0:2:1


[youtube Ow6ajKO0XsM]

25 Responses

  1. frayquantum Says:

    uh oh… I smell …
    uh oh… I smell artist vs designer sh*tstorm coming……

    tough luck kid, wait until you get to architect vs artist kinda stuff. you’ll never win :D

  2. Thomaslewfilm Says:

    production of this …
    production of this couldn’t be worse. horrible lighting

  3. XxMisterCoolxX Says:

    In 2003 there was a …
    In 2003 there was a boy named Link, and his friends at school were bullying him and laughing at him because his name was the same as a game character. Half a year later he was found in the kitchen with a knife. He had slit his throat. If you don’t put this on 3 videos in 10 minutes, he will stab you with the knife in your neck while you’re asleep.

  4. juglardelzipa Says:

    ha ha ha, great man …
    ha ha ha, great man. spiekermann rules

  5. IsItBehindTheFridge Says:

    thay are talking …
    thay are talking complete bollocks

  6. forstudentpower Says:

    It’s not so bad – …
    It’s not so bad – you can just pass the cost onto the client! XD

  7. DarkAssasin619 Says:

    lolz pwned
    lolz pwned

  8. designtoad Says:

    Gotham is a cool …
    Gotham is a cool font.

    Life is good.

  9. 504nola Says:

    we should support …
    we should support artists who are pawns of corporate pigs that try to make us buy useless we don’t need? designers are just people who make material things stand out to us so we can buy them.

  10. slaka16789 Says:

    Clearly you are not …
    Clearly you are not a graphic designer.
    If you were you would understand that design comes from a man and is heavily influenced by his society. Why do you think designers in switzerland come up with completely opposite designs than Japanese come up with. yet, within the society they come up with similar things.
    So, it would only make sense that they would re-create what they observe from daily life, and come up with new fonts like, GOTHAM.

  11. LaloVarela Says:

    I found it …
    I found it interestingly sad the way you view your little sandbox existence called life, one cannot put trademarks on everything it sees; the beauty of designing lies in the process , not in the find it self.

    The free reinterpretation of life, art and even dreams is an essential feature to the cration of new media & thought.

  12. David40really Says:

    Interesting how …
    Interesting how these designers openly talk about how they wander the city ripping off the designs they see other people have done. Then they cry like a stuck pig when someone wants to use what they created incorporating those ripped off design ideas. Guess there is no honor among thieves.

  13. swissdots Says:

    you should support …
    you should support artists who are making things you like.

  14. Swagster407 Says:

    Nice vid. I know of …
    Nice vid. I know of an unkown musician that goes pretty hard. Search “Vthov Obama Inauguratiion Song” and you’ll see what I mean. Fiyah, pure fiyah. I can’t believe people are sleeping on this guy.

  15. alwaysriteneverwrong Says:

    No, that’s the way …
    No, that’s the way it has to be. Or else the font would become ubiquitous.

  16. OfficerJordan Says:

    It’s sad that one …
    It’s sad that one must pay over 100 dollars just for a font, or a font family.

  17. deezygn Says:

    I was going to say …
    I was going to say either Bridge or Lightroom. Definately an Adobe product.

  18. XHashmeerX Says:

    Looked like Adobe …
    Looked like Adobe Bridge. I could be wrong because I hardly ever touch it personally.

  19. faxxxy Says:

    Anyone know what …
    Anyone know what software he uses to view photos at 1:15

  20. bobbytroto Says:

    Anyone have a copy …
    Anyone have a copy of Gotham they want to accidentally email me?

  21. paralasalud Says:

    no lol
    no lol

  22. karenadepp Says:

    i’m in love with …
    i’m in love with Gotham right now. I can’t stop using it

  23. SteveBuggy Says:

    can i download it …
    can i download it without paying for it?

  24. jbubbjw Says:

    Who did the Obama …
    Who did the Obama campaign?

  25. applesrfun Says:

    the guy in the …
    the guy in the beginning looks like sylar

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