Comments on: Name the lovely Obama Serif!

Question: Name the lovely Obama Serif!

potch — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:14:32 -0800

What typeface is used in the Obama promotional materials? No, not Gotham, I'm looking for the serif used for his name. Sample linked inside.

Sample: Obama/Biden

Both WhatTheFont and Identifont failed miserably btw.

Thanks in advance!

By: empyrean

empyrean — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:37:00 -0800

Sender, LLC designed the Obama campaign logo which has gone through some transitions from Obama to OBAMA to OBAMA/BIDEN now, with variances in case and bolding and other tweaks. I found a video with a Sender designer discussing the process here: Obama Logo Video.

The designer says the serif font used is Perpetua.

By: potch

potch — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:09:16 -0800

Wonderful! Clearly, Sender did some heavy tweaking to the logotype (such as straightening the verticals on the M), but it's at heart the same typeface, or certainly close enough. Here's why I wanted it:

That One/Joe '08.

A complete waste, in retrospect, but hopefully people will get to watch the video (which is splendid), and broaden their knowledge. Thanks!

By: holgate

holgate — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:12:52 -0800

You'd probably want it as THAT ONE: there's a small but noticeable size drop between the first and last letters in the Perpetua OBAMA.

By: stopgap

stopgap — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:40:26 -0800

That's not Perpetua. They used Perpetua for the logotype when it was just "Obama" set in lowercase. The designer in the video even talks about how the logo had been adapted and changed to all caps in a way that sounds like Sender was no longer involved for those changes. As for what the typeface is now, I can't help you.

By: awesomebrad

awesomebrad — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:32:07 -0800

It's definitely worth noting that while Sender may have designed the "O" logomark, all subsequent design work was done by an in house team. The lead designer is obviously working full time for the campaign, but has his own boutique firm that he plans to return to when the campaign is over.

By: O9scar

O9scar — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:32:30 -0800

According to Typophile, it's HTF Requiem. Definitely tweaked/redrawn.