United States Senator Barack Obama was considering a run for president throughout the summer of 2006. Late in that year, Obama chief strategist David Axelrod asked us to design campaign logo options “just in case”. Axelrod outlined the insurgent campaign’s themes of hope and change and referenced Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s campaign button as a starting point.

Here are the nine logo concepts we presented to Axelrod, along with historical references and excerpts from our creative brief to the design team.