A Campaign to Re-elect a San Jose Councilmember
Chappie Jones represents the residents of District 1 in San Jose, California. His initial campaign used rather generic imagery, colors, and layouts typical of the industry. Chappie approached C Davis Designs to create a more unique and professional presentation for his re-election bid.
Political campaigns are unique in nature because they do not compete on a daily basis for our attention. They compete for our attention for a relatively brief amount of time, but against intense competition. It's not just against opponents for a given office, but also against all other candidates for all other offices crowding fences, lawns, and roadways for a slice of our mindshare. For that reason the candidate's name and to a lesser extent, the office sought, are the two most important components of the message. The iconic initial or colored hat of a presidential campaign can burnish symbols into our collective consciousness, but for a campaign of this size, there is not enough time or money available to establish a symbolic identity. Attempting to do so only dilutes the message you are trying to convey so a logotype is far more effective. The ubiquitous color combo of red and blue, does not make much sense for most non-national offices. Municipal campaigns offer the opportunity to adopt a more regional color palette. Perhaps no color is more unique and popular to San Joseans than the teal worn proudly by its successful hockey team and their loyal fans. This is not to say, however that one should completely co-opt a color palette — we are establishing an identity for something else after all — just imbuing ours with a bit of familiarity. The teal field was combined with a neon yellow, further distancing our candidate from the sea of red, blue, stripes, and stars
The re-election campaign moved early, efficiently, and professionally, spreading the message by web, fliers, and yard signs. Doing so let any would be challengers know that Chappie was taking his re-election bid seriously. The result was what every incumbent wants — the chance to pay full attention to governing rather than campaigning — running unopposed.
