Branding the Presidents

October 18, 2012 One Comment

A fabulous exercise in historical “branding”, Meg Jannott, a design student at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, is giving each U.S. president his own visual identity. Here is what she has come up with so far. Great work, Meg.

Via FastCo Design:

Fortieth President: Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
Thirty-Ninth President: Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)</p> <p>“Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, because human rights is the very soul of our sense of nationhood.”<br />
Thirty-Eighth President: Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
Thirty-Seventh President: Richard Nixon (1969-1973)<br /> Hand lettering.</p> <p>“Whether we shape the future in the image of our hopes, is ours to determine by our actions and our choices.”<br /> Richard Nixon</p> <p>
Thirty-Sixth President: Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)<br /> His election slogan was “All the way with LBJ”. As seen here.</p> <p>“I am concerned about the whole man. I am concerned about what the people, using their government as an instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better society and a better world.”<br />
Thirty-Fifth President: John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)<br /> This photo depicts NASA Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans, Dr. Wernher von Braun and President Kennedy at Cape Canaveral. Dr. Wernher von Braun explains the Saturn Launch System to President John F. Kennedy. </p> <p>In a time of uncertainty at home and abroad, an American president proposes bold new steps in the exploration of space.He calls for “longer strides” which “may hold the key to our future here on Earth.” He touts the potential of “even more exciting and ambitious exploration of space, perhaps beyond the moon, perhaps to the very end of the solar system itself.” The year is 1961. The president is John F. Kennedy. But the words ring true today, as NASA once again aims for new frontiers with the Vision for Space Exploration.Kennedy’s “Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs” came on May 25, just three weeks after Mercury astronaut Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space. Delivered at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the speech is best known for Kennedy’s audacious challenge to NASA and America: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” <br /> Read more here: nasa.gov<br />
Thirty-Fourth President: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
Thirty Third President: Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)</p> <p>Harry Truman was once quoted as saying, “I never gave anybody hell … I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”<br /> Harry Truman was known as a blunt, honest man. He told people exactly what he thought for better or worse. He called it like he saw it, and didn’t take any “bull” or dishonesty from anybody. That combination of honesty and bluntness in a place like Washington, D.C. left a perception of a man you would “give people hell.”<br />
Thirty-Second President: Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945)<br /> This picture shows “FDR and Fala, out for a ride”. </p> <p>Fala was a famous Scottish Terrier, the beloved dog of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the most famous presidential pets, Fala captured the attention of the public in the United States and followed Roosevelt everywhere, becoming part of Roosevelt’s public image. His White House antics were widely covered in the media and often referenced both by Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. Fala survived Roosevelt by seven years and was buried alongside him. A statue of him alongside Roosevelt is prominently featured in Washington, D.C.’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the only presidential pet so honored.<br />
Thirty-First President: Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)<br />
Thirtieth President: Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)</p> <p>Called “Silent Cal,” Coolidge was once challenged by a reporter, saying, “I bet someone that I could get more than two words out of you.” Coolidge responded, “You lose.”<br />
Twenty-Ninth President: Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)<br /> Harding was the first president to be heard on the radio. </p> <p>“President Warren G. Harding, while addressing a crowd at the dedication of a memorial site for the composer of the “Star Spangled Banner,” Francis Scott Key, becomes the first president to have his voice transmitted by radio. The broadcast heralded a revolutionary shift in how presidents addressed the American public.”<br /> -americanhistory.com<br />
Twenty Eighth President: Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)<br /> Hand-drawn Type &amp; Letter Gothic</p> <p>Woodrow Wilson was known as “the schoolmaster” and “the professor” for his ability and tendency to teach his guests like a professor would. People also called him “the phrasemaker” because of his amazing way with words and speech writing ability.<br />
Twenty-Seventh President: William Howard Taft (1909-1913)Typeface: Franklin Gothic <br /> “The man who possessed this impressive public record was tall and round, with a ruddy complexion, a blondish mustache, and dark hair. His legs seemed too short for his torso. His weight sometimes climbed to over 325 pounds. Yet despite this great bulk he was light on his feet and a nimble dancer. He was also quick to joke about his generous proportions. When offered the Kent Chair of Constitutional Law at Yale he replied that it would be inadequate but that “a Sofa of Law” might be all right. Then Taft probably chuckled a rapturous, subterranean, incomparable chuckle: “the most infectious chuckle in the history of politics,” wrote his biographer, Henry F. Pringle. Said the wife of a Texas congressman, “It reminded me of the cluck a whippoorwill gives, a laugh to himself, when he has been whistling with special vim and mischief.”-americanheritage.com 
Twenty Sixth President: Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt (1901-1909)<br /> Typefaces: Didot &amp; DIN</p> <p>There are a couple variations of the story of the teddy bear, here is one:“Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, is the person responsible for giving the teddy bear his name. On November 14, 1902, Roosevelt was helping settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana. During his spare time he attended a bear hunt in Mississippi. During the hunt, Roosevelt came upon a wounded young bear and ordered the mercy killing of the animal. The Washington Post ran a editorial cartoon created by the political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman that illustrated the event. The cartoon was called “Drawing the Line in Mississippi” and depicted both state line dispute and the bear hunt. At first Berryman drew the bear as a fierce animal, the bear had just killed a hunting dog. Later, Berryman redrew the bear to make it a cuddly cub. The cartoon and the story it told became popular and within a year, the cartoon bear became a toy for children called the teddy bear.”<br /> -http://inventors.about.com</p> <p>And yes, this photo is real. It had appeared in LIFE magazine and can be seen here: http://www.history.com/photos/teddy-roosevelt/photo11<br />
Twenty-Fifth President: William McKinley (1897-1901)</p> <p>Hand drawn type &amp; Avenir<br />
Twenty-Third President: Benjamin Harrison (1899-1893)
Twenty-Second &amp; Twenty-Fourth President: Grover Cleveland
Twenty-First President Chester A. Arthur: 1829-1886
19th President: Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893)
Eighteenth President: Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)
Seventeenth President: Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)
Sixteenth President: Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Fifteenth President: James Buchanan (1791-1868)
Fourteenth President: Franklin Pierce (1804-1869)
Thirteenth President: Millard Fillmore (1800-1874)
Twelfth President: Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)
Eleventh President: James K. Polk (1795-1849)
Tenth President: John Tyler (1790-1862)
Ninth President: William Henry Harrison (1773-1841)</p> <p>He originally gained national fame for leading U.S. forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, where he earned the nickname “Tippecanoe” (or “Old Tippecanoe”).
Eight President: Martin Van Buren (1782-1862)
Seventh President: Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
Sixth President: John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)
Fifth President: James Monroe (1758–1831)
Fourth President: James Madison (1751-1836)
Third President: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Second President: John Adams (1735-1826)
First President: George Washington 1732-1799
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