When Gerrit Terstiege, editor of Form, sent me the above "homage" of Bob Dylan's 1963 Freewheelin' album cover, I thought he had nailed another brazen free-stealin' piece of graphic design. Instead, he told me, "I wrote to the CEO of Jack Wolfskin [a European outerwear company], and he was happy someone had gotten the message--it turned out he is a great Dylan fan!" Being a great fan myself, I can appreciate the impulse to celebrate those early years when Dylan's influential protest music was at its peak. The Freewheelin' cover (below), photographed by Don Hunstein on West 4th street and featuring Dylan's then-girlfriend and muse Suze Rotolo, was something of a recruitment poster for many who came to Greenwich Village from all over the U.S. to be part of the emerging youth culture.
    Incidentally, for those who want to read more about that time and place, Rotolo, an artist living in New York, has just published her own memoir, A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties.

"What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar," said Thomas Marshall, Woodrow Wilson's vice president. What it certainly doesn't need is to be branded like every major and minor corporation. Yet that's exactly what the brand giant FutureBrand is offering through the Brand America Student Contest, a competition that asks young designers to rebrand the red, white, and blue. For what purpose? The promotion reads:
   

     That's all well and good, but does America need more signs and symbols? Or a more effective foreign and domestic policy? Brand America suggests that a brand bandaid (BrandAid) can cure the current economic and political woes. And what is the prize? "Fame and glory," say the organizers. The winner and selected finalists will receive $1000 and a paid internship. Doesn't that seem a rather paltry sum for getting America back on its feet?

(Editor's note: if you missed yesterday's DH due to technical problems, click here)

To end the first official week of the 2008 presidential campaign, I offer a sampler of current and forthcoming events devoted to picturing politics.
    Tonight, September 12, the reception for "Politcs 08" opens at The Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators (through October 4). The exhibition showcases the original art from contemporary illustrators focusing on this year’s long campaign--and there is a lot of it. Curated by Edel Rodriguez, the show features the work of Steve Brodner, Philip Burke, Tim O'Brien, Hanoch Piven, Stephen Kroninger, Luba Lukova, and Barry Blitt (he of the New Yorker cover fame).
    On Monday, September 15, the first of three roundtables in the "Art and Science of Politics" series begins at the Philoctetes Center in New York, focusing its discussion on Left and Right: What Neuroscience is Revealing About Political Thought. October 22 will be devoted to "The Design of Influence."
    On November 15, the Illustration Program, Parsons the New School for Design, and the Politics Department, New School for Social Research, present a daylong symposium, "Picturing Politics," featuring Eisner award-winning comic artist Rutu Modan (Exit Wounds), as well as Peter Kuper, Steve Brodner, Luba Lukova, and Barry Blitt (he of, well, you know), among others.
    If you happen to be in Berlin next month, the exhibition "Arthur Szyk: Drawing Against National Socialism and Terror" on view at the German Historical Museum (below) celebrates one of the most brilliant political satirists of his day.
    However, if you can't attend any of these events, you might want to play with the latest crop of candidate dolls (including the Sarah Palin doll above). Bring your own campaign to life in the privacy of your own home--it's like being there, only different.