Getting good results from the tool requires a certain amount of practice and it helps a lot to have the right photograph to work from. Some faces just
don't work well at all. My face and to an even greater extent Aleister Crowley's face have the problem that there are too many light and dark areas and too many variations in shade and angle. Other faces have too little differentiation and just come out kind of one color. 
It helps to have a high contrast photo and to reduce it to black and white before working with it. Plus you need a knack for pithy one-word tags for your icons.
The idea is kin
d of fun to play with, but in the 6 months since the election it has really already been done to death. You're not about to see the icon to the left on my Facebook page.
It may be the mark of truly successful pop art that in such a short period it has gone beyond a fad and evolved into a cliche. The fact that Fairey's design concept can be emulated so effectively by a simple Flash tool raises the question which has plagued pop art since the era of Warhol; it's trendy and it's popular, but is it really art?
(Tomorrow we wrap the series with a look at how a leftward turn in the culture helped Obama become pres, and we attempt to define The Man.)
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Man we're really seeing a wide variety of opinions just in this series!
2 - Eric Olsen
yes, we are, which is the BC way!
3 - Arch Conservative
"But President Obama is around. He’s everywhere: traveling to foreign countries, giving press conferences, appearing on You Tube, making speeches; he’s on television, and he and Michelle are on the cover of every possible magazine, smiling and telling us how great life is."
Translation: He's a smug, narcissistic piece of garbage.
4 - Phillip Winn
Yes, Archie, because no previous President has ever traveled to foreign countries, given press conferences, or made speeches. Obama is the first President to ever go on television.
And, of course, he is demanding that magazines put him on their covers, and since we lack freedom of press in this country, they have no choice but to comply.
Or, just maybe, possibly, all those magazines are using candid or non-exclusive photos, and President Obama is just doing his job. Because I have these strange ideas, could even be memories, that Ronald Reagan was very much in the public eye while he was President as well, and I don't remember him being a "smug, narcissistic piece of garbage."
Yeah, I think I'm going to go with "B." Your translation is more projection than translation.
5 - roger nowosielski
Well, ladies and gentlemen. Let's not congratulate ourselves prematurely. I'm kind of disappointed of late of Obama's lack of enthusiasm and electrifying quality which characterized his primary appearances. No doubt it's difficult to maintain such high level in light of the problems facing us. How can you be upbeat day in and day out?
But I do remember JFK and RFK, which is not fair perhaps to the younger generation.
6 - Eric Olsen
I think Obama fares pretty well under the JFK comparison - remember that the press was still very compliant and discreet regarding personal foibles in that day
7 - roger nowosielski
It may be so, Eric. And the times were surely different. Perhaps the difference comes down to the fact that we were more naive then and more idealistic.
I don't think it's any longer the case, not even when it comes to the youth.
8 - Mongo
Some good signs in the economy today.