GDUSA ENEWSLETTER - DESIGNERS DRIVE THE VOTE

1.Bart Crosby Poster 2.Steff Geissbuhler Poster 3.Rick Valicenti Poster 4.UNIT Design Collective Poster 5.Matt and Karen Davis Poster 6.Michael Hodgson Poster 7.John Nordyke Poster 8.Anna Keeler

 

PUBLISHERS NOTE: DESIGNERS DRIVE THE VOTE

Throughout the year, GDUSA has reported on the efforts of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the largest professional association of graphic designers,to encourage voter turnout in 2008 through a non-partisan Get Out The Vote national awareness campaign. Through that program, hundreds of graphic designers have created posters and other works meant to motivate and inspire. As the election bears down on us, here is a look at some of the most praised posters and the culmination of the Get Out The Vote initiative.

— Gordon Kaye

POSTERS DISTRIBUTED NATIONALLY

A juried set of 24 posters have now been professionally printed and distributed nationally in early September. The posters are being hung in the windows of storefronts, restaurants, dormitories, laundromats and elsewhere around the country. They can be seen, shared, downloaded and printed on the AIGA site; based on past experience, hundreds of thousands of posters are expected to be downloaded. Several of these posters are shown here.

AND AT THE CONVENTIONS

To coincide with the national party conventions, AIGA partnered with the Denver Art Museum and Walker Art Center in Minneapolis to digitally project a selection of 50 posters in their lobbies, where thousands of visitors saw how design can positively affect democracy. The project was curated by Darrin Alfred of the Denver Art Museum.

ALSO ON CURRENT EXHIBITION

The AIGA National Design Center in New York is exhibiting a selection of the posters from September 11 - October 24, 2008. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday, starting at 11:00 a.m. The posters are also being shown around the country by various local AIGA chapters.

AND ON YOU TUBE

Videos and motion graphics made in connection with the Get Out The Vote campaign are currently being posted on a special AIGA Get Out The Vote page on YouTupe. Sponsors of the entire campaign are YUPO, Fast Company, DeclareYourself.com and Intelligencer Printing.

CLEAR, LITERAL LANGUAGE

At the opening of the poster show at the AIGA National Headquarters, several designers spoke, including Steff Geissbuhler and Debbie Millman. But most evocatively, Ric Grefé, lauded the use of “clear, literal Language” by the designers in their attempt to capture the interest of new voters.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Get Out The Vote is part of a broader AIGA Design for Democracy initiative. Established in 1998, Design for Democracy seeks to apply the principles of communication design to increase civic participation by making interactions between the U.S. government and its citizens more understandable, efficient and trustworthy. Design for Democracy has developed election design guidelines for election ballots, registration forms, polling place signage and instructional materials, and has become increasingly active after the design confusions of the 2000 presidential election ballots.

SELECTED POSTER CREDITS

Shown in this enewsletter are eight of the 24 posters printed and distributed nationally. Credits go, in order, to:

  1. Bart Crosby, AIGA Chicago
  2. Steff Geissbuhler, AIGA NY
  3. Rick Valicenti, AIGA Chicago
  4. UNIT Design Collective, AIGA San Francisco
  5. Matt and Karen Davis, AIGA Toledo
  6. Michael Hodgeson, AIGA Los Angeles
  7. John Nordyke, AIGA NY
  8. Anna Keeler, AIGA Upstate NY

HP: THE COMPUTER IS PERSONAL AGAIN

This special enewsletter is part of a series of special enews reports sponsored by Hewlett-Packard. For information on HP Workstations, click here

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE INITIATIVE

The 24 posters.
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/selected-posters-2008

The 2 conventions.
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/50-selected-posters

The bigger picture.
http://www.aiga.org/design-for-democracy