You, the Candidate

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between graphic design and political campaigns with a focus on color and typography. The extent to which the general public identifies typeface and color palette characteristics is tested using surveys of college students. Findings from these surveys are used to select six color and typeface combinations, which are then designed and applied to a political campaign. Amazon MTurk is used to distribute these campaigns alongside surveys to five hundred individuals nationally. These surveys are designed to document the general public's perceptions of campaign design. Specifically, randomizing the release of campaigns across individuals reveals the relative influence of color and typeface on a campaign's signaling of political party and ideology. Surveys also document perceptions of kindness, trustworthiness, modernity and traditionality to these designed campaigns. The combination of graphic design, large-scale public dissemination and survey-based feedback introduces a data-driven design methodology that has the potential to improve and enrich the graphic design process for students, working designers and researchers. This research works in conjunction with a participatory installation that brings attention to creating design decisions and the influence of political design. The installation encourages involvement with the political process as participants create their own political campaign ephemera on a custom-designed application.