“creating Your Political Campaign Image With the Use of Color”

“Creating Your Political Campaign Image with the Use of Color”

Melissa Meesseman, Director of Communications, Run and Win

Julie Matson, President, Run and Win

An important aspect of creating your political campaign image is your choice and use of color in your campaign products. When choosing colors, you have a tremendous opportunity to create a type of “brand awareness” for your campaign. By developing a unique color scheme, voters can associate your campaign with a specific set of colors.

Regardless of the colors you choose, it is important to keep a few things in mind when choosing your colors:  1) make sure  the colors do not clash, 2) the color of the words should be easy to read against the color of your background, and 3) your colors should be clearly distinguishable from your opponent’s colors.

Much like black and white bring strong and spontaneous feelings, you are communicating with you voters by associating a specific color scheme with your political campaign. However, be cautious if you go with the standard red, white, and blue theme; you don’t want your voters to get you confused with your opponents or other political races taking place at the same time.

If using patriotic colors is important to you, then use varying shades of red and blue instead of the typical shades of red and blue. For example, try a burnt red and a deep blue as opposed to the standard bright red and blue. Check with your printer ahead of time to be sure that these variations can be used economically. Some printers may charge more for colors that are not part of their standard options.

Some other popular campaign color combinations include: green and yellow, purple and yellow, blue and white, red and white, blue and yellow and black and yellow. There are pros and cons to using colors other than red and blue. Most candidates stick to red and blue, so by using a different color combination, you have already set yourself apart from your opponent(s). A downside to not using red, white, and blue on your materials is that it is not instantly obvious that this is a campaign message. Also the standard red, white, and blue are perceived as patriotic. After 9/11, everyone was using red, white, and blue to show patriotism and support. Now candidates are starting to shift back to using different colors to set themselves apart from the crowd.

Your decision to use one or two colors on your campaign products will most likely be based on your budget. Using multiple colors costs more than using a single color, but using only one color will limit your design options. If using multiples colors is not possible due to budget constraints, don’t worry, many candidates have one-color signs, often just to present a simpler look. To make your sign seem more colorful, you can do a “reverse out.” A reverse out is when you use one color (eg, blue) as a background, or the primary color on the sign, and make all the text and any artwork (eg, stars, line art) white. Since the product color is white, you are still only using one color on your sign.

If you need some ideas on how to create a campaign poster or sign, don’t be afraid to look at what other people are and aren’t doing with their political signage and advertisements. You can also checkout the design gallery at RUNandWIN.com where you’ll find 50 different designs from which to choose.

Remember to be consistent with all of your campaign supplies and political advertisements. If your voters associate certain colors with you and your campaign, then you’re well on your way to creating a “brand awareness” for your political campaign.