Vote 2020
Life in 2020 was full of upheaval. COVID-19 killed millions of people and brought the entire world to a standstill. The death of George Floyd ushered in a racial reckoning. These traumatic events motivated me to be more connected and helpful to my community. My desire to help crystallized around the importance of voting. Voting has always been important to me as a way to participate in democracy and peacefully pursue change. Yet even in a presidential election year, it’s typical for only about 62% of U.S. citizens to vote. If ever there was a time to encourage more Americans to exercise their right to vote, the 2020 election season was it.
Research & Process
In the spring, I attended a protest in downtown Indianapolis to learn, listen, and understand firsthand what was happening in my city and around the country. I started reading and paying attention to the voices of prominent civic leaders. The documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble influenced my contribution to a political poster design exhibition in October of that year benefiting the Kurt Vonnegut Library in Indianapolis. I also volunteered. As part of Vote Forward’s Big Send campaign, I wrote handwritten letters to folks in swing states encouraging them to vote in the upcoming election. When early voting started, I volunteered at a nearby polling location, the same spot where I later cast my own vote.
Project Design
What started as a poster design evolved into my take on a voting campaign brand system. I knew I wanted to convey a sense of action and the seemingly impossible idea that unity—however temporary—might be achieved by coming together to vote. These concepts translated into a logotype bearing a ballot check mark and a red+blue=purple color palette. I chose the typeface FF Good for its old-yet-new, American-gothic-inspired infusion of simplicity and utility. And, given my fever-pitch fandom of Hamilton, it was impossible to resist adding a badge that paid homage to the musical. Other design influences included Swiss grids, letterpress and silkscreen printing processes, and a COVID postcard series created by Annie Atkins.
High Hopes, Higher Turnout
In October 2020, I shared on social media, “It has been so easy in 2020 to feel discouraged and hopeless about a lot of things. Voting is one small way we can DO something to bring meaningful, positive change.” Data from the 2020 election suggest that others felt the same. Voter turnout increased substantially in the 2020 general election, with a record 66% of eligible voters casting a ballot. I was encouraged to see the growth in engagement, and it was meaningful to be part of the efforts that promoted it. Even with the contention that followed, my experiences in participating in the voting process have made me hopeful for the future and the role design can have in increasing the public’s engagement with the democratic process.