Steve's new book, Posters, Propaganda, and Persuasion in Election Campaigns Around the World and Through History, is now on sale.  (Barnes & Noble lists it, but doesn't seem to be selling it; click the link to buy through Amazon.com)

Next month, Steve Seidman, a professor of Strategic Communication at Ithaca College, has a new book coming out, Posters, Propaganda, and Persuasion in Election Campaigns Around the World and Through History.  From the Barnes & Noble synopsis:

How effective are election campaign posters? Providing a unique political history, this book traces the impact that these posters--as well as broadsides, banners, and billboards--have had around the world over the last two centuries. It focuses on the use of this campaign material in the United States, as well as in France, Great Britain, Germany, South Africa, Japan, Mexico, and many other countries.

The book examines how posters evolved and discusses their changing role in the twentieth century and thereafter; how technology, education, legislation, artistic movements, advertising, and political systems effected changes in election posters and other campaign media, and how they were employed around the world.

This comprehensive and original overview of this campaign material includes the first extensive review of the research literature on the topic.

Seidman is currently covering this year's political campaigns on a variety of platforms.  In June of this year, he was featured on National Public Radio's Bryant Park Project, including a discussion about Barack Obama's campaign imagery.  (You can read about it here, discuss it here, and listen to the podcast here, though I haven't had any luck getting it to play.)  He extends the conversations through a blog on the Ithaca College site, as well as a Facebook group.

As an Ithaca College undergraduate and graduate alum, and current member of the strategic communication departments advisory council, I've unfortunately only had a handful of encounters with Steve.  But his ideas about and knowledge of just this kind of strategic communication are deep and very exciting.  For anyone interested in graphic design / visual communication and politics (especially this year), I implore you to follow this conversation (and pick up a copy of his book).