Political campaign logos are among the most important visual elements of every campaign’s branding. Campaign logos serve two basic but vital functions:
- Catching the voter’s eye to draw attention to the candidate
- Transferring easily to merchandise
The second function is especially important as e-commerce becomes an increasing bigger source of fundraising for political candidates.
If you’re new to politics, the idea of designing a campaign logo might seem a little overwhelming, especially if you don’t have much experience with graphic design. It’s much less complicated than you think, however, and we’re here to help.
We’ve put together a handy guide to explain how to get a logo for your campaign, highlight (and explain) the latest campaign branding design trends, and give you plenty of examples for inspiration.
Ready to see the best 21 political campaign logos of 2020?
We’ll get there, but first…
How Do I Get a Political Campaign Logo?
You have a few options for getting your campaign logo off the ground, depending on your budget and the size of your campaign.
A fantastic free option for a political logo maker is Canva.com, which makes it easier than ever to design a campaign logo yourself. This website offers a ton of elements, fonts, and templates, as well as the ability to upload your own graphics. You can drag and drop to create your design and save money by doing it yourself and still come up with a polished design. Canva has both free and paid versions.
Other budget-friendly options include sites like fiverr.com or 99designs.com, which allow you to hire freelance artists who specialize in graphic design. Many of these logo makers are generalists who will have designed for more companies than political campaigns. But don’t let that discourage you—campaign branding has been moving closer toward corporate style designs in recent years, so this generalized experience will still be very helpful.
If you’re running a larger campaign with a bigger budget, you can also invest in political campaign consultants who specialize in graphic design and political branding. These folks will have worked on campaigns before and therefore will have a working knowledge of the design trends specific to political campaign branding and logos.
So What Were 2020’s Best Political Campaign Logos?
The best campaign logos are the ones that successfully employ the effective trends specific to political campaign graphics. Below are 21 example logos from 2020 that follow five recent trends.
Using Minimalist Logos
Rather than using traditional logo design elements, many campaigns have been opting for more modern, minimalist designs. Here’s an example:
These graphics show how Rep. Adam Schiff switched from a 2018 logo (first) with a traditional color-blocked style to his 2020 logo (second) with a solid white background that favors the use of negative space. Here are a few other political candidates who have favored this approach:
Besides taking a minimalist approach, these campaign logos share another similarity—embracing a more evergreen trend for political graphics by using lines or stars. These symbols evoke imagery reminiscent of the American flag. For good reason, this approach is among the most common style choices in political graphics, and there’s a lot of creative ways this imagery can be incorporated.
When updating his logo, Schiff also shifted the focus from his last name to his first name, which leads us to our next big trend in political campaign graphics.
Being on a First-Name Basis
Bernie is credited with starting the first-name basis trend, and many other candidates have adopted it for their own campaign logos. Here’s Bernie’s iconic logo:
The goal behind this trend is to make you, the candidate, seem more approachable and help voters see you on a more personal level. To further achieve that goal, many candidates have also added the next trend to their designs.
Crafting a Signature Look
While sans serif fonts are the most commonly used in campaign logos, many candidates are adding a cursive font to their names to stand out and seem relatable. Here are a few examples:
While the above trends are both common and effective, not everyone is utilizing the minimalist trend, getting on a first-name basis with voters, or using a signature look.
Let’s take a look at some campaign logo designs that favor other trends.
Political Campaign Logos That are Embracing the AOC Swoop
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s campaign logos slant upwards, giving the impression of forward movement.
This approach creates a striking effect, so it’s not surprising that many other campaigns are also incorporating this trend into their designs. Below are a few examples:
Using symbolic elements—such as slanted lines, exclamations, or tiny fists—creates an emotional response in voters. What’s not to love about that?
While this trend is done to great effect in many campaign logos, the next few trends show additional ways to use symbols.
Using State Symbols in Political Campaign Logos
Many political campaign logos use graphic elements to reference their states. This trend is actually an evergreen design approach—meaning it will always be “on trend.”
Still, there are some sub-trends within this approach worth noting.
Referencing your home state
Many candidates reference their home state using little graphical elements as accents to the design of the campaign logo. Check out these examples:
Here, Ann Kirkpatrick tells voters she’s from Arizona with a desert scene. Lucy McBath uses a Georgia peach, and Kali Barnett dots the “i” of her name with the Kansas state flower.
Using the state’s shape
The other state-specific trend for logos that you’ll see is simply to incorporate an image of your state in your design. Here are a few example logos from candidates who’ve taken this approach:
The final trend also uses key imagery to make a statement.
Combining Flags and Fields
The last trend to consider is the tendency to combine the stripes of the flag with imagery of crops, specifically the rolling fields of wheat. Here are a few great examples:
These 21 political campaign logos from 2020 best incorporate the latest trends in political graphic design. Hopefully, these examples can help you get started as you work on running your own political campaign. Just remember, your ultimate goal is to craft a logo that catches the eyes of voters and transfers easily to your campaign merchandise.
For more inspiration, check out the rest of the Democratic campaign logo designs from 2020 here: The Center for American Politics and Design.
Happy designing!
