the graphic design blog that speaks the truth

Depending on your outlook, you could say that things have got better or worse in the United States over the past 20 years. What is definitely certain, is that Presidential Election campaign logos have definitely improved. Gone are the days of slapping a name in white type on a blue and red striped background. Realising that design can help to play a huge part in decision making, the team behind the now iconic ‘O’ for Barack Obama’s 2008 effort have set a precedent (not president) for the future. That’s one change that seems to have definitely been achieved.

Four years later Obama is still utilising that now famous image, albeit in a new fashioned rehash of the original graphic which is now embedded in bold ‘2012’ numbers set in slab serif type. Obama’s electoral opponent, Mitt Romney, also seems to have grasped that a campaign icon is a valuable asset and has followed suit by using a stylised ‘R’, even though it is far less inspiring in both execution and message than Obama’s.

As previously mentioned, prior to 2008 there were few differences between logos/signage used by both opposing candidates for the presidency. There is however, and probably always will be one consistent theme. The blue and white coupled with the stars and stripes which are embedded as the identity of the US have featured in some form since the year 1960, back when John F. Kennedy made it in to The White House.

Take a look at some of the comparisons below of the US Presidential Election Campaign Logos of the last 20 years and see if you can notice some early logo design clichés:

2012

2008

2004

2000

1996

1992

If you are interested in more than just the logos used, including websites and TV Ads, you can visit a great website which has a huge archive, www.4president.org.