It's election season (who knew!), so I thought I'd get in on the action here with my own scorching critique of each candidate ... 's logos. This is the first election cycle that I've been following with any real interest, as I'm sure is true for a lot of people, and I've really been enjoying psychoanalyzing each candidate's logos and branding. Now I am fully aware that there are many aspects of logo design that are fairly subjective. I do not mean any criticism on any of the designers of these logos for anything they've done.
But in the spirit of the season... LET'S RIP THEM APART. Just kidding, I will definitely not be doing that. There's been enough of that in just about every aspect of this election cycle to go around. I honestly just love logo design, I love analyzing logos and I love talking about them. So here we go.
Disclaimer: these are PURELY my own DESIGN opinion and have no connection with any political affiliation that I or anyone else has. Nobody needs that.
The Worst
John Kasich
Courtesy of johnkasich.com
I don't have much to say about this one. It's really not much to look at, and the only graphical element, while obviously meant to be an American flag, mostly just looks like three strips of bacon. The Kasich campaign team even admitted it and joked about it, but that can't be great for the campaign as a whole.
The Verdict: Meh. And now I'm hungry.
Hillary Clinton
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
I have been having a really hard time with this one. I totally get it. It's simple, clean, and the message is obvious: Hillary will move this country in the right direction. I just don't like it. It's so plain that it's boring - and I don't think that's exactly what the Hillary campaign wants to be communicating.
The Verdict: Again, meh. I think this article from Slate laid it out pretty well.
Most Improved
Ben Carson
Graphic courtesy of Eleventy Marketing Group
Now some of you may have noticed that I refrained from including his original campaign logo. That's because I can appreciate when an organization realizes the error of their ways and repents, moving on to much better things. Thankfully Eleventy saved Ben from a less-than-appealing logo. The re-design is simple and sends a clear message of what he's about. I'm not sold on the quad-colors but it does make Carson's name stand out as well as the word REVIVE.
The Verdict: Average. I'm not super excited about it but it is so much better than the first one that I thought it deserved it's own category in this post.
The Best
The two campaign logos that are at the top of my list are mainly there for one reason: they have somehow found a way to stand out in a sea of red, white, and blue flags, stars and eagles.
Marco Rubio
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Now I've heard some criticisms about this logo - mostly that the silhouette of America is so small that it looks weird. I disagree on the grounds stated previously - it is finally something different in a pretty boring sea of logos. I'm not super pumped about the kerning on his name, but that is a relatively small, albeit a little annoying now that I'm thinking about it, detail for me at this point.
The Verdict: It's so refreshing to see something completely different. And for that, Rubio gets a top spot.
Bernie Sanders
Courtesy of Super Nerd Inc.
I will unashamedly say on this one: I'm feelin' the Bern! The font choice is fantastic, and it incorporates flag and star elements without being obnoxious about it. It's friendly but strong, and I think it communicates Bernie's brand better than any of the other candidate's logos.
The Verdict: Well done Bernie 2016 on creating my favorite logo of this election!
Well now you know what I like, which I'm sure is a relief because I know you've been waiting all year for this.