3 things I've learned writing about visual politics
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Visual politics requires seeing things differently.
We usually pay attention to political art and design during a presidential primary or when an image goes viral, but I launched 𝘠𝘌𝘓𝘓𝘖 because I had a hunch there was more to the story. In the U.S., where every candidate gets a logo and artistic expression is Constitutionally protected free speech, there’s always something new to see.
Here’s what I’ve learned covering visual politics:
Visual politics is intentional
The future is now
Art and design can bring us together
Visual politics is intentional
There’s a reason political designers use certain fonts for specific candidates.
Politicians use logos to convey their gender and political party and change typefaces to pivot to the general election. They wear hunting gear in their ads to show voters their values instead of just telling them. Just keep an eye out, because not everything is always as it seems, and photo ops can and do backfire.
Visual politics is about getting a message out, and details like type and color palette do for the eye what rhetoric does for the ear.
The future is now
Digital politics has always moved fast, but today, it moves at the speed of internet culture.
The future of politics is #sponcon, unpolished, and direct-to-consumer, and a new generation of designers are rewriting the rules of political design. Republicans are rushing into NFTs, and before Pantone named its Color of the Year based on ~The Metaverse~, Democrats were planting digital yard signs in video games. This ain’t in the Before Times anymore, folks, keep up.
Welcome to the new information dispensation, where politics reacts to pop culture and technology in real time, and you can watch it all unfold on your phone.
Art and design can bring us together
In a political culture that tells us we’re divided, art and design shows us how much we have in common.
Some of my most popular stories are about art or design that’s altruistic or accessible, like our nation’s design museum considering whether design can bring peace on Earth, the birth of COVID memorial, the effects of climate change being viewable from Google Earth, and COVIDtest.gov using a free font that was developed for every language. Creatives believe their work has the power to make a real social impact, and it shows.
Art can build bridges in ways politics can’t.
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