the logo is more than impressive. however, this article:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=23974&seenIt=1

sheds light...
Mr. Sender said he was unsure if the logo would remain intact if Mr. Obama won the Democratic nomination. “I’m sure if he gets the nomination new things will be done,” Mr. Sender said.

Part of me wants to congratulate Mr Sender on an envious production. The other doesn't believe he actually knew what he had done. Other, "new things will be done"? You'd think he knew what he had. Perhaps his naivete is also enviable.

I was under the impression that Cramer-Krasslet had designed the logo. The logo is itself has a striking resemblance to the City of Chandler, AZ logo, also created by C-K.

Um, the answer has been well known for a while.
http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/004262.html

I didn't think this was considered a mystery.

Mode and Sender did the logo, but most of the stuff we've grown to love has come from the inside: A lot of the great applications were done by the campaign's art director John Slabyk, who unfortunately hasn't gotten the credit he and his team deserve -- we are looking to get their contribution on the record for our upcoming book.

I find your essays interesting and am disinclined to argue about mysteries or not.
I was also interested in the NYTBR article you wrote on children's book illustration & design.

Thanks Steve for including our super-sized rendition of HOPE in this fascinating conversation about the Obama logo.

I read all the links, and I'd like to say, thank you to all those who did work on the logo. And thanks to, to all the creative people who were charged up enough by Barack and this campaign to playfully wake up and participate in the creation of their own whimsical variations. The call was reflected by us out here in the rurals of PA in what we assume to be the largest Presidential painting in the world.

Big hugs of gratitude to Shepard Fairey from Jim and Hilary out here in Shickshinny, PA for our use of his amazing work. thefieldpainter.blogspot.com is our site if you'd like to read more about it. And a why not send a poke out to Stephen Colbert, who kept us laughing all the way through... we have a larger field and some leftover paint....