Formal analysis of advertisements

Art

Shepard Fairey is the artist who created the Barack Obama "Hope" poster. It has been described as iconic and it became synonymous with the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. It is a stylized stencil portrait of Obama in red, beige, and both light and dark blue. The word "Hope" is written at the bottom although there are many versions where "Hope" may be substituted for "Progress" or "Change" (as well as other key words). The portrait of Obama, which shows him looking up to the right with a look of determination and pride on his face, was made to create a sense of inspiration in the American people who were ready to do away with the practices of the Bush administration. People were ready for a change and they saw Barack Obama as the man to bring it. This poster with the simple word "Hope" brings us back to some of America's founding ideals. There was the belief that we could achieve anything; we could withstand hard times and still be able to come out on top. The colors also are very patriotic. Though there is beige used in place of white, the poster is still reminiscent of the American flag and therefore we get a very patriotic feel from it and when combined with Obama's look of determination for change, people were quite moved by the piece of art.

Fairey is said to have created the image in one day and it was printed to be a poster for its initial use. After printing them, Fairey took the posters to the streets and he is said to have immediately sold several hundred posters. The poster then went on to be more widely distributed -- as a digital image and in other forms through the entire election season.

The image itself is very true to life in that the image is Barack Obama. The right side of his face and the background is red, while the left side is beige with spots of blue as well as a blue background. The beige on Obama's left side of his face makes the image appear as if Obama is looking towards a light. Both of his eyes have white in them as if to signify a glimmer of hope. He is serious, but there is also a warmth about his expression. On his right lapel there is a circle -- the upper part of the circle is blue and the lower part is red and white stripes as if to depict the American flag. He wears a white shirt, red tie and a dark blue suit jacket. On the bottom of the image, H-O-P-E is written in light blue all capital letters.

His face is probably the most interesting aspect of the piece as well as the focal point. The different colors on his face seem to represent all the different colors of Americans. It could also be a depiction of the fact that Obama had a white mother and a black father. Either way, we see in his face a lot of depth and character; we see a sort of superman in his eyes.

There is a certain amount of depth to the image; however, there seems to be more depth on the left side -- the light blue side -- than the right side. Obama appears to be turning to the viewer.