Tom Steyer 2020
Client: Tom Steyer Campaign
Services: Lettering
Support: Matt Narca
Challenging the status quo for a 2020 democratic presidential candidate.
We were hired to create the “Iowa” Lettering for 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer.
A campaign that was founded on the notion of impeaching Trump and addressing the climate crisis, our goal was to create a lettering solution that embodied the imperfect touch of the human hand. Inspired by picket signs, rally posters and protest propaganda, our process utilized ‘at home’ techniques that didn’t call for any special supplies. Everything from quick and informal writing, spray paint, paper cut letter forms, and stencils were explored, and our final concept was derived from an amalgamation of paper cut and informal/signature hand writing influences, affording us a final lettering aesthetic that feels both refined and approachable.
A multitude of inspiration sources and techniques were explored to vet which style best balanced approachability and professionalism, while simultaneously harnessing the cool factor needed to sell swag.
To create a versatile system, the graphics and elements were able to not only change color palettes with ease, but the complexity of elements was able to be reduced as scale changed, allowing for ease of legibility across all platforms and sizes.
A few of Round 1 initial explorations, all showcasing various ways to represent ‘hand-created signs’: spray paint, quick brush strokes, and paper cut.
