Barack Obama's Berlin Speech Poster
Founded in 1919 in the city of Weimar, German-American architect Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus, German for ‘building house,’ combined elements of both fine arts and design education (Winton). Walter Gropius’ initial goal stressed unifying all art forms, with students learning metalwork, woodwork, weaving, pottery, etc. However, he later aimed to design for mass production, with the school adopting the slogan “Art into Industry” in 1923. Due to pressure from the Nazi Party, the Bauhaus was forced to close in 1933, though the ideas created there continued to spread around the world (After 1933). The Bauhaus movement is characterized by geometric, abstract styles featuring little emotion or historical elements — it's an aesthetic still used today and influences many designers, architects, and artists (A&E Television Network). While the history of the Bauhaus is a history of controversies, it is also a history in which concern for consumer goods was first incorporated into design and, therefore, inspired many schools after that (Saval). Bauhaus is important to German culture as it reminds them of a time of innovation and determination to make their country a more functional place.
In this post, we look at a poster used to promote Barack Obama’s upcoming speech; he was only a senator at this time. This speech was set to be in Berlin, Germany, and in turn, Obama’s graphic design pays tribute to Bauhaus design. There are several elements that we can distinctly correlate with the Bauhaus movement — the text set at a 45-degree angle, the varying shades of “Obama’s Blue,” with one red shade. Barack’s profile is strangely manipulated and deemphasized, and the entirety of the poster seems to have a subtle gradient, creating a glowing appearance on the side of the poster (Ben.) This poster is important to graphic design history, as it is one of many examples where designers have created inspirational works based on the elements of past movements.
Resources:
A&E Television Networks. (n.d.). Bauhaus - art, Architecture & Design. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/art-history/bauhaus#
After 1933 - Bauhaus-Archiv: Museum für Gestaltung, Berlin. Bauhaus. (n.d.). https://www.bauhaus.de/en/das_bauhaus/81_nach_1933/#:~:text=The%20Bauhaus%20was%20forced%20to,Israel%20and%20many%20other%20countries.
Ben, P. (2008, July 24). Amazing obama poster pays tribute to Bauhaus design. Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/07/amazing-obama-poster-pays-tribute-bauhaus-design/
Saval, N. (2019, February 4). How bauhaus redefined what design could do for Society. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/04/t-magazine/bauhaus-school-architecture-history.html
Winton, A. G. (2007, August 1). The Bauhaus, 1919–1933: Essay: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn timeline of art history. The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm
