Political Sites & Branding Politicians

Design Melt Down features political websites, commenting on the standard red, white and blue color scheme (having worked in political direct mail, I know what a stubborn default this is). Branding in this area is always worth examining, since—perhaps more obviously so than in other games—choices are deliberate to the extreme (with the high-level candidates, at least). For example, Hillary Clinton is using just her first name. Barack Obama has a real logo, not just the standard stars-and-bars graphic. McCain (before he changed his site—one assumes he caved) was flying in the face of all tradition by using a black and white color scheme and a sans-serif for his name (though sans-serif is not always weaker: remember the comparison of Bush and Kerry's logos in 2004?). You may scoff at political design as a market that shamelessly brandishes messaging stereotypes, but at least it's an area where the serious players are actually paying close attention to the graphic message that they're sending (even if it is communicated via the same color palette 99% of the time). And hey, I'm sure somewhere there are young Tracy Flicks devouring this info as they strategize about which typeface will ultimately assist them in their rise to power...