Hebrew Obama Poster: YES OUI KEN
This is part 5 of 9 in the series Helping Obama Get Elected
When I created my first Hebrew Obama poster, I never imagined it would become one of the most popular posts on my blog, lead to a couple of interviews in the media, and that I will get asked to create additional graphics in Hebrew for the campaign. And so, as the Illinois Senator arrives in Israel this evening, I thought it would be appropriate to publish my latest creation.
Following are my new Hebrew posters, one in blue and one in white:
To download a ZIP file containing a print-size JPG and PSD, click for
the BLUE version, or here for the WHITE version.
Disclaimer:
- Use the graphics in any way you see fit, as long as it is not for financial gain, and as long as it gets Obama elected.
- You can use CafePress, Zazzle, or similar online printing services to print merchandize for you and your friends, as long as you do not set up a public shop.
- If you have used the graphics online or printed it and held it in an Obama rally, it would be nice if you could send some photos and share the joy.
- Feel free to link directly to the original post on my blog, but do not link directly to the files.
| Make sure you check out my other design: |
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I will elaborate a bit on my artistic decisions:
While the literal translation of ‘yes we can’ to Hebrew (’KEN ANU YECHOLIM’, כן אנו יכולים) was what I aimed for when I started this project, it quickly proved to be unacceptable from a graphic point of view: unlike the English words, each one spelled using three letters or less, the third Hebrew word (YECHOLIM) is spelled using six letters, thus breaking the balance of the original design.
Since the original slogan became so prominent in the official campaign, I had to exercise some ingenuity if I wanted to incorporate Hebrew into it, and so YES WE CAN soon became YES OUI KEN, affirming the candidate in English, French and Hebrew, correspondingly. Yes, it’s a trick, but I was forced to use it.
Now let’s talk fontology:
Just like with the previous poster, I used WhatTheFont?!, which helped me discover Arial MT Black is a pretty close match to the original.
For the Hebrew word KEN, I first tried Hebrew fonts but none did the job, and so I decided to use the English letters O and I, the former was changed to look like a the Hebrew letter KAF and the latter was extended to look like a NUN SOFIT and not like a VAV.
The original English PDFs were downloaded from here.
Shahar Golan
23 July 2008 at 10:51 pm Permalink
You want to put a dagesh or something in “Ken”… Looks like a stylized capital P
07 October 2008 at 2:42 pm Permalink
Hi Shahar,
I am an American Jew living in Israel on Kibbutz Ketura. I’m in The US for the week and am one of the rabbis who went out with Brian and saw his YES OUI KEIN shirt. I have downloaded. You are a genius! Thank you so much and please be in touch if you are coming to the south of israel at all.
L’shana Obama!
Susan
29 October 2008 at 11:33 pm Permalink
This is genius!
03 November 2008 at 8:22 am Permalink
Brilliant poster. I’m going to use it on Facebook on election day, if you don’t mind.
10 November 2008 at 9:11 pm Permalink
I am new to your site. I linked to it from Israel 21c. What an exciting time to be “in the moment.” I loved your poster and am sorry that I did not see it earlier. Keep the good work and words flowing. There is a sense of destiny and finally a mensch in the White House. Think good thoughts and do a good deed every day.
Pass that idea on. It works.
Best,
Zoe
21 December 2008 at 8:24 am Permalink
And here I thought that I came up with it.
Good one!