Who designed the Obama O? John Maas on bnet.com has the answer:

The Obama logo was created early in 2007, through a collaboration between Chicago firms Sender LLC and MO/DE. Chief Obama strategist David Axelrod gave the agencies a mandate: design a logo that would evoke "a new sense of hope," as he told the Chicago Business Journal. After working feverishly, the design was introduced on February 10, 2007.

Sol Sender discusses the "brand development" of the most memorable political logo in the past 50 years here. And MO/DE addresses its contributions to the campaign here with a video here. Bravo to both creators for breaking the conventional mold.

Speaking of molds, Hilary Ross and Jim Lennox of Shickshinny, Pa., painted the Obama Hope poster (100 by 70 foot) on their rural field (below). "When we were on the ground applying the colors, we couldn't tell how beautiful this mix of color fields was," Hilary told me. "Only when we climbed the tree did we know what we had done."