carmen ortega political campiagn brief

8/14/2019 Carmen Ortega Political Campiagn Brief

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Carmen Ortega 2012 CampaignHow design inuences politics and campaigns

By Isaiah Perkins

Art Institute of Tampa

GR4900 Graphic Design Capstone

Instructor Ms. Beverly Fanning

Summer 09 Quarter


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THE PROBLEMMost of America chooses their candidate just by what they see in the media. The political

campaigning tends to go on for more than a year and a half before the nal election

happens in November. Millions of people make their nal decisions on the president

should be based upon their views and ambitions for the country. In most cases, the

general public does not realize how inuential political ads and campaigns are to their

vote. One look at the design of a politicians campaign can sum up your message. In

the design industry, as designers its their job to send a message through design so the

whole world can understand. When designing for political campaigns and the elections,

its their job to design for a winning vote.

Developing a political brand can have its difculties and problems. From developing

a concept, to narrowing down the right thumbnails, it is a long process that designers

may go through. Designers may go through over 100 rough sketches just to come up

with 30 computer concepts for one logo development. Campaigns then use the logo

to brand themselves now they use it to tell a story of their life, dreams and aspirations

forte country. Shown with the wrong imagery or campaign advertisements can cost

a candidate their election. Offending the general public is a huge concern, and being

too clever is a double-edged sword. There was a short-lived button in 1972 showing a

drawing of a rat committing suicide over the slogan Four More Years a reference to

Nixons slogan for his second term election bid, which was pulled almost as quickly as it

appeared.


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STRENGTHS

This project exhilarates a strong brand

The Carmen Ortega campaign shows

design through different componets

The campaign shows extensive type

studies and color choices.

This project shows that design goes

further than just with the normal media

but it effects our government.

The campaigns strengths are shown

through the branding. From the web site to

the posters on the street the look and style

is thoroughly carried through.

WEEKNESS

Being the only female Hispanic to

run for this position may cause

some suspicion

Not enough photos of her with the

public on the web site

Not enough time for marketing the

campaign to the fullest

OPPORTUNITIES

To expand this project to different

markets and ways to execute the

solution through new media techniques

A chance to expand her target

audience with a new marketing material

Present video footage and other public

apperances on the website

There are a lot of opportunities to make

this project and brand stronger. With more

research on the different ethnic groups i

can design for that market and introduce

new media outlets.

THREATS

Procrastination with the branding

material and the web presence

Not being able to reach every person

especially the audience that wants

a better choice for the 2012 election

SWOT ANAYLSIS


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MY SOLUTION

By creating a brand for a candidate for a campaign that doesnt exist will prove the

power of design. By following some initial rules of design and implementing them into

the political collateral. Make sure you use lowercase letters. Mixed-case letters are more

legible than all capital letters because they are easier to recognize and avoid centeredtype, left-aligned type is more legible than centered type, which forces the eye to stop

reading in order to nd the start of the next line. Another thing to watch for is picking one

sans-serif font and avoids introducing new fonts. They require the eye to stop reading

and adjust. Sans-serif fonts with clean strokes (Arial, Univers, and Verdana) are recom-

mended for screen and for the quantity and variation of text found on paper ballots. For

dual-language materials, use bold text for the primary language, regular text for the

secondary language. In the 1984 election when Regan and Bush were running together

there was a lot of miscommunication with the type and the message in posters. A serif

font has been seen on lawn posters and banners. A sans serif was seen on buttons and

other supporting campaign collateral.


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PERSONAL REFLECTION

Usually when you see a political rally on television, members of the audience are wav-

ing signs, ags, and anything else they can get their hands on to show their support for

their candidate. In most cases, the signs are a mix and match of different groups and

slogans. Most rallies feature a mix of fonts and colors. On the signs that read HOPE,

CHANGE, and Obama for President, the crowd was uniform in its signage. All

signage used the light blues campaign and the Gotham Black typeface. But the font

crossed over from political signs. It was also used on those now infamous hope post-

ers, and it is heavily used in Obamas political campaign.

Originally created for GQ by Jonathan Hoeer and Tobias Frere-Jones, the Gotham font

was meant to be manly and fresh, which arent bad for a political campaign. But what

regular designers can learn from Obama is not only his font selection, but the discipline

to create a design and stick to it, much like good politicians stay on message. This

condensed the use of custom signs, yet allowed each group to express their support.

A sort of keeping everyone on the same page no matter what their individual interests

are, and at the same time controlling the message. Because these logos were offered

on the campaign Web site, they could even keep statistics on what groups were more

active. There are often many variations of the same logo, such as the Nike and Pepsi

logo which switches theirs from time to time. In most of the ofcial campaign imagery,

he is seen looking upward with a heavenly glow that suggests not only will he be a goodpresident but a great leader.


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TARGET AUDIENCE

DEMOGRAPHICS

Primary Audience

Age: 26- 60

Gender: Male and Female

Race: All

Ethnicity: All upbringing

Language: English and Spanish

Education Level: College level and beyond

Income Level: over $30,000

Mobility: Any

Occupation: Varies

Location: United States of America

Household Size: Over 4

DEMOGRAPHICS

Secondary Audience

Age: 18-30

Gender: Male and female

Race: Minorities

Ethnicity: All upbringing

Language: English

Education Level: High school and beyond

Income Level: $15,000 and above

Mobility: Any

Occupation: Students

Location: United States of America

Household Size: Over 4

Carmen Ortega wants to reach out to

every student in college, struggling

mom, and to the extraordinary and

average joe. She feels like each

person, no matter race, gender,

ethnicity should have a voice in what

our government decides. She wants to

be the voice for the american people.


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QUANTATIVE RESEARCH

What you will nd from the poltical

brands of the past

Same red white and blue color scheme

All of the logos typeface are san serif

In every election since 1920 there was

a ag representing the candidate

The canidate who won each election

since kennedy have a consistent

branding all the way through

Democratic and republican design

To see how different the republican

designs are from the democratic designs

we might want to look at the standard

approaches taken by John McCain

and Hilary Clinton. These are the only

other two serious contenders for party

nominations in the 2008 election. A design

is considered in the typical a way for a

political campaign to communicate their

message. Typically this is seen as the

role of experts in politics: the candidate,

scriptwriters, policy makers and strategists.

The graphic designers are used to create

a certain look for this message, keeping

within certain style boundaries, and

applying it to a numerous of campaign

materials. Campaign staffers expect the

overall effect produced by these designed

materials to be only skin deep because

in this model design is viewed as activity

that merely facilitates form, completely

separate from the content, from what is

seen as the actual message.

The Obama Camiagn

Successful branding

A brand that was executed throughly

temperet videate bemus.

Many voters say they were inspired by

Barack Obamas campaign because

he was welcoming, warm-hearted and

trusting. Thats what each of his colors

represent that he used for his campaign.

What he did with his design team no other

politician has done yet. To turn a single

campaign, to a movement of hope and

belief through posters, t-shirts, and his O

logo was remarkable. That movement right

was 2/3 of the voters in the 2008 election.

Barack Obamas presidential campaign is

groundbreaking for many reasons, some

less obvious than others. Behind the

charismatic and inspiring rhetoric there lies

a sophisticated and extremely effective

brand marketing strategy. Most designers

would dream of getting to work on a cam-

paign like this but for Sol Sender, who led

a design team for the Obama 08 logo this

was just another day at the ofce.

Barack Obamas Brand mark


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ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCHThe Ortega campaign has targeted herself to American minorities who wants more from

their government. College students who are tired of paying loans and still getting mini-

mum wage. Single moms who are struggling to make ends met. The plumber with two

jobs and credit card debt. Wounded POW who cant ght for themselves. This was the

demographic that got lost in the polls and in America.

Carmen Ortega appeals to wide audience, she isnt afraid of meeting and bringing new people into her campaign.


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COMPETITION/FIELD RESEARCHCarmens competition would have to be the republican candidates with a poorly de-

signed campaign. In actuality the competition would be another democratic nominee as

well. Knowing her target market, she researched the large city areas to understand what

the people wanted so that she could make each area safer and nancially stable for a

family to be raised in.

Simple but not effective This is what America is used to and we to stop it now

Other Signage from a poltical campaign CBush and Cheney back in 2000 Cupicid compric ave


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IDEATIONThis process started with a word tree. These words represent her and her values. From

there a brand was starting to develop. Her color choices were soon chosen along with

typefaces, overall look and the nishing techniques. The look for this campaign had to be

very clean, organized and something that could reach everyone in the general public.


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GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS


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INSPIRATION


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DELIVERABLES

1. Media Kit

Purpose: The media kit is used to get the people involved

in her campaign. The media kit will let the fellow voters

understand her views, policies and why she is running for

president.

Components: Refer a friend form; to relay the message and

information to other voters. Postcard; this will show tour dates,small bio and an overall introduction to her campaign. Bumper

stickers and buttons; for your cars and campaigning .T-shirt;

this comes in 4 different kinds of styles. Wheat-Paste Poster;

this poster is for posting up around your city

2. Web Site

Purpose: The web site is their to reinforce her brand and get

the general public familiar with her political standpoint.

Components: Home page which will have a little bit of

everything about her there. An issues page, biography, media,

store and a contact page.


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CAMPAIGN MEDIA KITPoster card, Flyer, Posters, Web site

Lawn sign, T-shirt, Bumper stickers,

PROCESS

Introduction postcard

Has a small personal biography about

Carmen Ortega

List of her tour dates

Personal note and thank you letter and

contact information

Refer a friend Form

This is form that comes in the media

kit that you can give away to anyone

who wants to request information

and thier personal media kit

The form is mailable with no

postage needed.

This form has a web site and contact

information at the bottom.

Small Take away yer

This also come in the media kit.

In the yer you will nd a list of her

tour dates in the mid-west and southern

regions and her views on education

and transportation.

Personal note and thank you letter with

contact information

Bumper Sticker

2 of these bumper stickers come in the

media kit

Has web site where you can nd out

more information about her.

Website

The web site contains, a store for t-shirt

and apperal, a media page to see and

nd where shes been moving, and an

issues page with some information on

her views the leading issues

carmen ortega political campiagn brief

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