As a result of our personal political beliefs and activities, we do a great deal of political design, which also involves project management, as well as all the other activities we undertake in the commercial arena.

Political design is a somewhat different animal than other commercial design, because the “customer” is a voter who is often unaware or even uninterested in their need for the “product” being sold. Everyone should vote, and should care about candidates and issues, but large percentages of people not only don’t vote, but haven’t had a reason to care. Although all campaigns focus on “likely voters,” often the percentage necessary to win will come from those who are less likely to vote. Keeping your natural allies, selling those on the fence, and persuading unlikely voters in a campaign that is usually only effectively a few months long is always a challenge.

While branding is a factor in political design, through development of a logo and look, due to the comparatively short time a candidate or cause has to be “sold,” direct mail pieces in a campaign, in particular, generally need to have variation from each other to attract the voters’ attention...in our opinion. Again, as in commercial design, pretty design is never enough – clear communication of ideas and concepts are what will persuade a voter.

It's ironic that with the advent of social media and email blasts, direct mail (and individual voter contact) remains to this day the most successful means of persuading voters. Because of the time constrained limits in any campaign, branding and design have to happen quickly, and the project management we do is almost as important as the design.

While we sometimes work with candidates directly, it's more likely that we work with consultants, designing materials for candidates and for committees trying to pass ballot measures. We also work for consultants designing materials for member-to member and independent expenditure communications. Although we are a hired guns, and am not a part of campaign committees, we take confidentiality extremely seriously, and never disclose anything learned while designing materials for any of our clients. Please contact us for further information about how seriously we take confidentiality and firewalls.

Working in the pressure cooker of a campaign – with candidates, causes, consultants and campaign committees – is something we truly love.

Errant Art, FAX 707-595-5806
P. O. Box 1284, Santa Rosa, CA 95402

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