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| In The News |
Council campaigns put image to work on signs
Candidates' ads are often conveying a subtle message
By KRISTEN MACK - Staff
© 2005 Houston Chronicle
A campaign logo may be the only thing many voters ever see or know about a candidate.
More than just name identification, it brands the candidate and the campaign.
"That logo that you see plastered on the side of fences is what captures someone's attention. There's a psychology in creating an image that sells a product, whether it's a business or a candidate," said Charlie Thorp, of the graphic design company CA Thorp Studio Inc., who has been designing campaign material since the 1980s.
As the 2005 Houston City Council races shift into gear, candidates are using colors and typeface to convey their messages and stand out among the sea of signs.
Although most incumbents are not expected to face serious opposition, term limits will produce four open seats on the City Council this year - at-large Positions 1 and 2, and Districts B and C. District C in particular is shaping up as a hot race with seven candidates already announced. The filing deadline is Sept. 7.
With many candidates spending about $10,000 on signage, they're paying attention to the details.
"Usually you try to get a bit of the candidate's personality in there or the flavor of the district," said Campaign Strategies political consultant Robert Jara. "You can make it strong and patriotic or you can do a minimalist, more classic logo. A lot of it is personal taste, but logos are about the image they are trying to portray."
Simple approach
GOP political consultant Allen Blakemore views it a little more simplistically: A logo is nothing more than an appealing graphic display of a candidate's name and, typically, the office the candidate is seeking.
Blakemore 's key requirements are that a sign be visible, readable and noticeable.
"It's not whether that logo was particularly appealing, it was that it was there at all," he said. "You can't impart an issue or message with that."
What a good sign does, especially a yard sign, is differentiate itself from a real estate sign, Blakemore said. That is why his clients almost exclusively use the patriotic red, white and blue.
There are always the anomalies. During the 2004 presidential campaign, some of President Bush's bumper stickers were scaled down to an iconic "W."
Former Houston Mayors Kathy Whitmire and Bob Lanier focused on their first names in campaign material. It worked so well in Lanier's case that Houstonians began referring to him as Mayorbob.
Graphic designer Peter Boyle, who worked with Pam Holm when she was executive director of Scenic Houston, also designed the campaign material for her successful 2003 District G council race.
It was Boyle's first foray into political work and the sign looks anything but political, with bold typeface and daring lime green color.
"She wanted a logo to reflect her personality and what I thought was a different approach to local politics," said Boyle. "We wanted to use a crisp, tailored, strong logo with a bright color to soften that. She saw herself as a lifestyle candidate who was also environmentally friendly."
Boyle admits it was a risk to not use red, white and blue for a first-time candidate.
`Unifying message'
Michael Moore, Mayor Bill White's chief of staff and his campaign manager in the 2003 election, said the campaign wanted to keep the message simple.
His red, white and blue bumper stickers read "Bill White, For Houston." His yard signs carried that message on one side, and "Get Houston Moving" on the other - a campaign theme that de-emphasized his political ambition.
"It's more a unifying message. It symbolizes that he wants to make things happen," Moore said. "He's the type of person that brings people together and gets things done. It fit right in with who he is."
Boyle said effective designs capture what is unique about a candidate.
"You want something that reflects that person," he said. "Something memorable to differentiate them from the pack."
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