Lincoln, looking pretty hip

This is actually the graphic that made me want to start this blog. I saw it on a huge banner while walking uptown, past the New York Historical Society, and it stopped me in my tracks. I love the stark simplicity and how it combines an old image with really current design. It's hard to see here, but in the print ad the white parts are actually just a bit yellowed (more than the natural color of the newsprint), combining with the muted blue and red to evoke a 150-year-old cotton American flag. I'm not sure I'll ever get to use design like this in a PowerPoint presentation, but it's an inspiration.

 

And while I'm at it, the header on the New York Historical Society website is pretty cool, too. Is there a term for text that dips into white space below like that? I've tried to do it a few times, but it never looks quite right for me.