Subway poster for School of Visual Arts designed by Gail Anderson
date: label: Date
content: 2009
name: label: Designed by
content: Gail Anderson, American, born 1962
label: Illustrated by
content: Terry Allen, American
label: Subject of
content: President Barack Obama, American, born 1961
label: Subject of
content: School of Visual Arts, American, founded 1947
notes: label: Caption
content: Gail Anderson is a New York based designer and partner at Anderson Newton Design. Since 1987, Anderson has worked in the field of design at design firms, advertising agencies, and publications. Her work has received awards from major design organizations, including the Society of Publication Designers and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). In 2008 she received a Lifetime Achievement Medal from the AIGA. Anderson currently works as Creative Director at the School of Visual Arts Press and is on the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee for the US Post Office. In 2013, the US Postal Service commissioned Anderson to design the commemorative stamp for the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. Anderson was only the second African American designer tapped to design a commemorative stamp, the first being Georg Olden who designed the Proclamation’s 100th anniversary stamp in 1963.
label: Description
content: This is a subway poster for the School of Visual Arts designed by Gail Anderson and illustrated by Terry Allen, featuring a quote from President Barack Obama and an illustration of a red, white, and blue pencil. The poster has a black background with white text. Across the top margin is white text that reads “IN REAFFIRMING THE GREATNESS OF OUR NATION, / WE / UNDERSTAND / THAT / GREATNESS / IS NEVER A / GIVEN.” The text is continued in the bottom right quadrant “IT / MUST / BE / EARNED. / PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA / Inaugural Address – January 20, 2009.” In the center of the poster is a large poster with the shaft striped, red, white, and blue. The collar of the pencil is colored to resemble wood. The pencil’s point is outlined in blue and form a triangle the gradually form the splayed legs of a human figure at the tip of the pencil. The figure has a small rectangle for a head, a triangle for a body, and two angular arms that emerge from the shoulders and rest on the figure’s hips. There is a small red flower on the figure’s chest over its heart. In the bottom right corner is a small red flower, the logo of the School of Visual Arts. White text next to the flower reads “School of VISUAL ARTS / SVA.EDU.” This is followed by copyright information.
place: label: Place depicted
content: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Education
label: Topic
content: Graphic design
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
label: Classification
content: Memorabilia and Ephemera - Advertisements
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gail Anderson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2020.11.32
objectType: label: Type
content: posters
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © School of Visual Arts
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper (fiber product)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 45 7/8 × 30 in. (116.5 × 76.2 cm)