Ladies and gentlemen, we have an icon. Since he took office, President Obama has been pressed between two seemingly irreconcilable imperatives: on the one hand, to create a system of images that can communicate his policy message to the American people; and on the other, to do so without appearing grandiose or downright authoritarian. For all our obsession with images (an obsession facilitated by electronic media [good morning!]), ours is an iconoclastic culture, and even the least informed of us possesses an innate grasp of mass-psychology sufficient to recognize when we’re being manipulated. WIN buttons and war bond posters just won’t make the grade anymore.

But if anything can work, this might. In a press conference yesterday, the president unveiled the official emblem for recovery.gov, which is to be posted on all projects being constructed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If the logo seems to fit perfectly with the routinely excellent visual language of Obama’s campaign, well, that’s ‘cause it’s done by the same guys: Chicago’s Mode Project, headed up by creative director Steve Juras with the able assistance of designers Aaron Draplin and Chris Glass. It’s simple, it’s hopeful, but most importantly it’s disarming. Its rounded sections and subdued colors should help take the teeth out of the argument that the Administration’s trying to browbeat us or gull us with images. What they’re trying to do is explain things to us. And unite us.

You New Hippie Stimulus Logo [Gawker]