Senator David Norris-A New Hope

I don't know about you but I was glued to the outcome of Senator David Norris bid to get on the ballot paper. I was sitting here looking at his facebook page clicking refresh every few minutes. Thankfully Dublin gave us the result the nation wanted and the upcoming Presidential election will be a proper democratic one. I was gutted when Senator David Norris initially stepped down from the running due to an ugly smear campaign, with the media dredging up issues that he had answered to years ago. It was so sad to see that our country is blatantly run by a big boys club who didn't want a man to run who stands for change. According to all the surveys there is a huge majority of support for David Norris, a fact that the boys blatantly tried to ignore in blocking him.

Just minutes after I found out the good news I decided I wanted to make a badge to show my support for his campaign. I looked through lots of photos of him online, but none of them were punchy enough. Some of you might know my design work and my interest in red, black and white designs used in political propaganda artwork. This led me to look at the Hope piece made for Obama during his campaign. I spent a few hours on photoshop editing an image of David Norris in the style of this artwork. I've seen a few different pastiches of this image before, I've no idea how they did them, if there is some quick filter to use, if there is I don't know about it. Anyhow a couple of hours later I was finished my image, I made a full poster, and then also a badge design. You are more than welcome to use the poster image on your websites/blogs/facebook to show your support for the Senators campaign(just please credit me with a link back to this website if you use it). I have also listed the badge in my etsy shop here.

Last night it was pointed out to me on Twitter that my design might be misconstrued as someone trying to cash in on David Norris' success. I was a little shocked by this suggestion , but when I stepped aside from my enthusiasm and looked at it objectively I could see how someone could misunderstand my intentions. This image was made in a moment of excitement, and genuine pride in a man that symbolises change and hope for this country, something most of us have not felt in a very long time. I responded in the way that is natural to me, to make an artwork. Since receiving the questioning tweet(s) I have contacted the Senator David Norris team asking them for permission, stating that the listing will be removed if they have any issue with it. I also offered the use of the poster for free, which I've also offered to all of you guys too.