Designing the Obama campaign After designing 'non-official' art and graphics to support Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Josh Higgins joined the re-election campaign permanently in September 2011 to become design director. Higgins left his position as creative director at California based ad agency Departure to head up the Obama For America team, comprising 21 designers, who he hand-picked. Speaking from Chicago, Higgins gives his first interview since Obama's victory last week and talks to Design Week about designing a winning campaign, the changing role of art and graphics, and the 'lack of creativity' from an opposition which 'copied' ideas. Obama For America design director Josh Higgins Design Week: In 2008 Obama's first campaign had already inherited an identity created by Sol Sender, who was commissioned by Chicago-based consultancy, Mode in 2006. To what extent were you involved at this time? Josh Higgins: I was involved but not in an official capacity. I was working with different artists to make posters and raise money. There was another gentleman that had my job. His name is Scott Thomas and he was the design director [of Obama's campaign] in 2008. DW: In your unofficial capacity what were you trying to achieve in 2008? JH: There was a huge grassroots campaign outside the official campaign. I'd never been really involved in politics in any way and I saw what Shepard Fairey was doing with the [Progress] poster and a friend of mine named Raphael Lopez from the same town that I am [San Diego]