The Design of Politics

Campaign signs are interesting to me. I think it shows how important any sign really is. Signs need to get your attention quickly and let you know what they are about. During election time, there are so many signs that getting them to stand out is even harder. They are everywhere shouting like a used car salesman. They tend to be crass and loud. The good ones get your attention but are more stately about it.  I think Obama’s campaign for President in 2008 had some incredibly good design work going into it. He made branding a major player in the campaign and could be seen as the prototype of how to do it right.

Now, it really doesn’t matter what the politics of any of the people running for office below are. I don’t even know on most of them yet as I haven’t looked it up. This review is based entirely on whether their signs are effective. I thought it would be a good exercise to look at them and rate them.

So, in no particular order:

Sam Tostenson
Always tough to do a long last name. Makes everything a bit smaller. I am a big fan of Myriad Pro, but not sure the small caps did anything to help this one. Certain fonts in small caps just make the capital letter look thicker and this is one of those fonts. With a long name like that I would have used a condensed font to try and make the name taller. Probably gone with all caps for the last name and regular capital/lowercase on the first. The sign has a lot of blank space. Color-wise, I think it stands out from the crowd of usual red, white and blue signs. I have seen a couple of magazine ads from this candidate and they looked better than this sign does. Overall rating: B

Clyde Taylor
White sign with blue lettering…. throw in some red at the bottom. Ho hum. Very boring sign with another unfortunate choice in font and font size. I usually love Futura Condensed but this just doesn’t work. After driving by these signs a lot, I have notices that the hardest to read signs are white with colored lettering. The inverse seems to work better. Overall rating: C

Richard Strickland
This sign is just too busy. Reminds me of many of the ads you see for businesses in which they want to get the most out of their ad and cram way too much into them. They end up hurting you that way. The shooting stars must just be some standard thing you can get at a sign shop, because you see them a lot. Pretty ugly though and just makes it harder for your eye to focus on what’s important on the sign. Again, the font choice isn’t a bad one (Franklin Gothic Condensed Italic) though using the Times on the bottom knocks it back again. Overall rating: C-

MacGinnitie
Politicians love blue. It’s understandable. It is also the most common logo color for businesses. Blue is supposed to be the color of trustworthiness and loyalty. The use of the font here is pretty good. Optima Bold. I think there are too many lines though. A thinner line under the name and no lines near the  position would have been better. Inverse coloring works well here. Overall rating: B+

Terry Carter
Green color is different. It seems to work. Might be better with a slightly darker green, but I can live with it. If I recall correctly, I remember this politician used to use a dark blue and orangey-red for his signs that were a great color combination. Went to the one-color this time. Font choice works well… another Myriad Pro. This time it is Bold Italic and tracked way down. My biggest gripe was throwing that “state senate” in there in Snippet Script. It just looks too cheap and playful for something as serious as a State Senator. Overall rating: A-

Mike Hulsey
More blue signs which is fine, if a little boring. Inverse lettering is pretty good. Font choice (Berkeley) is alright though a little thin on the serifs. Could have been an okay sign, but they had to throw in the star. Makes it MUCH harder to read. Not sure who made that choice, but I hope it’s not the guy running for office. Overall rating: C

Preston Smith
Went with a smaller size sign but seems to get attention with it. The ubiquitous red, white and blue colors are there. This would have worked better with the blue shadow behind “smith.” And I can just hear it now… “This is great, but it’s missing a star… how can we work that in?” Unfortunately, they did put a star in for the “i” dot and it is too light a weight for the letter and looks silly. Overall rating: B-

Bill Tipton
This one is on my top 3 worst signs list. The use of light green letters on a white sign make it very tough to read while driving by. A little sun on it and it’s lost. The use of Legacy Sans is a poor choice also. Difficult to read. the positioning of the words on the sign keep them small and waste a lot of space on the sign. Overall rating: F

Audrey Stewart
Some goods things here and some bad things. The color choice is your standard poltician’s blue, but it is a nice dark blue which seems to work better than some other blues. The white lettering is good. It is pretty readable but it still could have been bigger for the name. Perhaps they were just dying to incorporate some stars onto it…. Overall rating: B

Shaw McVeigh
I think Mr McVeigh is running for some office from the 1970s. The use of the Cooper Black font just gives it a very retro look. Perhaps that’s what he was going for. Size-wise it is readable. Color-wise it is the usual. And one more time the star gets incorporated into the lower case “g” for no apparent reason. Plus a whole row of stars at the bottom. I think he wants to make sure we know he is running for office in America…. 1970s America. Overall rating: D+

Jim Yale
My next top 3 worst signs. He didn’t just go for a little patriotic color or a little star to tell you how patriotic he is, he went for the whole thing! And in so doing made his sign totally unreadable. He used a nice wavy flag too, just in case you might have been able to make out the lettering over the normal stripes and stars. Overall rating: F

Karen Handel
The green color is pretty good, but would have been better a little darker. The greens tend to blend into the landscaping some. Inverse lettering is good. Font choice and size is good. Definitely a readable sign. I usually like some curves if they can be worked in, but I think this competes with the name and takes away from it. Would have been better with a straight bar at the bottom. Overall rating: A-

Gloria Burns
Red, white and blue sign is a bit boring but expected. Font choice is alright. Looks like a condensed Trajan Pro, but not sure if it was a true condensed font or someone “condensed” it themselves. Of course, the star had to be thrown in. This time it’s a shooting star that looks like the AAFES logo to me (http://www.aafes.com) Overall rating: B

Ralph Hudgens
Red, white and blue and full of so much stuff you can’t read it. They also threw in a handwriting font… on a sign you are going to read as you fly by in your car? The flag on top is a fitting topping to a sign with a little of everything and absolutely nothing for effect. Overall rating: D

Bill Keim
Well, it is red, white and blue again. But this time it reads better. The sans serif font Myriad Pro Bold is used well. The darker tone blue on the bottom. Very readable. And it hate to say it, but I even like the stars on this one. They aren’t the normal ones used and have a much wider angle for the points making it much heavier.  Pretty good sign. Overall rating A-

John Oxendine
Another of the short signs, but this one is a bit wider. He has a long last name which lends itself to this. He is running for a state position so knowing his first name seems less important. I understand how some people locally would want their first name, too. But this works for the state level. His name and what he is running for is all you need to know. He used a smaller sign to be more economical but it is no less effective. Of course, it is not his first time doing it either. Overall rating: A

William Ligon
We’ve been seeing Ligon signs for a while now. I really liked his billboard on Hwy 17 near the Rt 25 spur. His use of a slab serif works well and is bold and assertive. The colors are red and blue, but the red is a deeper red that I like. It is just different enough to separate it from the crowd. He is fortunate to have a short name that stands out  well and takes up a lot of space on the sign. My biggest criticism with this sign is that there is too much on it. The top line of text is not needed and just clutters it up. I would also get rid of the underline under “Ligon.” Overall rating: A-

Maria Sheffield
This is certainly not red, white and blue. She may be running for office in Ireland, actually. Orange and green are great colors that work well together, but this color green and this color orange are a bit harder to see. A deeper orange with this green would probably work better. Not quite sure what the leaf in her first name is for, but at least it’s not a star. The font choices are pretty good. It does stand out in a crowd. Overall rating B-

Alex Atwood
My final in the top3 worst signs. Where to start…. White sign with a royal blue text is not terribly readable, but not the worst part of the sign. The 2010 is pretty superfluous. I guess it is in case you forget what year it is or are wondering if this sign is still in the ground from last year. It took me a couple of times driving by it to realize what the yellow blob in the corner is. The state of Georgia is up there drawing attention away from the name and making it harder to read. This photo makes it seem easier to know what it is, but was taken in the middle of the day. Note how dark it is in the background. I had to lower the exposure a lot to be able to see the yellow blob. With the sun shining on it, it almost looked like a stain on the sign. Luckily, Mr. Atwood let us know where in the state we live by putting a star on it and then threw a couple more in for good measure. The biggest waste of money for going to a 2-color sign. Overall Rating: F-

Brian Kemp
This sign was not at the normal place around the corner from me, but I have seen it around. I went online and found a copy of the sign. This is one of the best signs I have seen this year. It is Black and Red which will appeal to many Georgians due to its UGA colors. The big Slab serif font is easily read and makes an impact. It says the name and the office. This may be my favorite sign I have seen this year… at least around here. Overall Rating: A

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So, that’s my take on the local politicians’ outdoor advertising. Lots of negatives, but still some positives. Most of them would be easy to make much better. I hope everyone takes this for what it is and doesn’t accuse me of supporting anyone over another.