Dev Davis for Mayor
After two successful councilmember campaigns under her belt and with all the experience in governance that brings, Dev decided to throw her hat in the ring for Mayor of San Jose, California, the nation's 10th largest city. Having established the "Dev" identity in previous campaigns, her name could now be shortened formally. While that allowed us to revisit the typography, we maintained the colors for continuity, important to her existing constituents.
Variations
A campaign of this magnitude requires an extensive array of applications of a logotype. There are considerations for various social media platforms, traditional media, yard signs, video and more.
Most campaigns, with a couple notable exceptions, are static, hideous attempts to look particularly patriotic and authoritative without room for any subtlety whatsoever, and often those are accurate portrayals of the candidate. Dev had many advantages over her opponents including her perspective as a woman and her unparalleled preparation as the only candidate with masters degrees, hers being in public policy and organizational leadership. I worked to convey that with the navy/magenta color combination, using a gradient that draws the eye up and to the right to a brighter future. The tagline works with the color combination to emphasize that she was the moderate candidate that can bring both sides together.
Collateral
A wide variety of applications are necessary to exploit the various media campaigns can take advantage of to get their message across as quickly as possible.
Printed media are often specifically tailored to different constituencies in a campaign. While the message must be consistent, the emphasis often changes based on the constituency.
Mailer to female voters
Mailer to independent voters
Mailer to voters of Vietnamese descent
Walk pieces as they are called in the industry are carried by volunteers who canvas door-to-door. They need to encapsulate the candidate's message and establish her identity. They must also work quickly to help create a dialogue for volunteers so they can readily discuss the issues that matter most to a wide variety of constituents.
Walk piece with simulated sticky note
All those who contributed to the campaign were thanked with personally written notes.
Thank you cards
Digital Media
Websites are a cornerstone of any marketing effort and are particularly helpful for political campaigns to get detailed messages out to the public as well as build support whether it be through public endorsements or campaign donations. The devdavis.com website was a clean design that delivered as much or as little information as the viewer wanted to pursue. Donations and email campaigns were integrated into the platform to streamline the use for campaign staff. I worked extensively with a group of volunteer translators to make Dev's the only quadlingual (English, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Chinese) campaign site.
The Dev Davis website
Video plays a critical role in offering messages from the candidate and her supporters alike. As with all branding opportunities, consistent presentation helps create a sense that the source is trustworthy.
Social media presents challenges and opportunities alike. Its reach is broad but not particularly deep, so messages must be succinct and consistent in appearance.
Social media images
What could be more ubiquitous to a campaign but yard signs? These work best when the most important typography is rendered in white on a dark background. The sign must be processed quickly by the reader who is often driving past it at night. This is the one application for which I prefer to use a border. The white frame around the sign helps passersby recognize it quickly as it helps distinguish it from objects in the background.
Yard sign
Volunteer Tees