Logos and Che Guevara

I recently finished a book on the famous Alberto Korda image of Che Guevara - and how it became a globally recognized icon. I won't get into the politics of Che (except admit that I have a Che poster in my closet) - because he means something different to everyone. However, the commercialization of the Che brand is an interesting narrative. And he wouldn't be the icon he became without Castro's fantastic branding/public relations machine.

Korda's original photo:



Notice how much more powerful it becomes with a little cropping:



Jim Fitzpatrick's famous poster version of the image might be just as well known (if not more so). It's interesting he renounced the intellectual property rights to his work, unlike most of the other opportunistic 'communists' who use[d] Che's image for their own gains (notice the "F" for Fitzpatrick in the lower right corner):



I own Naomi Klein's No Logo - and it's gathering dust on my shelf since I haven't read it yet (but I should get around to it). It's leftist and anti-globalization too (much like Che) - so it should be interesting to get a different POV on branding/logos. Here's another rendition of the famous Che image, but with a little corporate commentary:



And just something to keep everything in perspective: