For the September issue of The Atlantic, Pentagram staged the Fight of the Century—or at least the next four years—between presidential contenders Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The designers collaborated with the renowned lookalike photographer Alison Jackson to mount the bout at the iconic Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn. The photos accompany "Slugfest," a cover story by James Fallows about the upcoming presidential debates. The brawling President Obama and presumed Republican nominee Romney illustrate the increasing brutality of the discourse in today's polarized political world.
The September 2012 issue is the latest in a series Pentagram has art directed for The Atlantic over the past year, following our redesign of the magazine in 2008. For the shoot Jackson and her team flew in from London and worked with a local crew to create a realistically gritty match, including a wardrobe stylist who outfitted each contender with the appropriate red or blue gloves, and a make-up artist who inflicted a prosthetic swollen eye and some nasty bruising. A referee and pair of trainers were on hand to make sure the fight was fought cleanly and fairly and with a minimum of trash-talking. President Obama called in the big guns for his corner: Tommy Gallagher, celebrity trainer of champions including Vito Antuofermo, Donny Lalonde and Lou Savarese. Both candidates took a pounding and went the distance for multiple rounds.
