Episode 84: The Politician’s Gaze

When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional district last month, two designers writing in the Washington Post, described her campaign’s graphic identity — the logo, typography, and an iconic photograph of the candidate — as “actually good.”

Does good design matter for political campaigns? Or is “good” design elitist and therefore alienating?

Michael, who worked on the branding for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, says of Ocasio’s messaging:

It’s not so much about aesthetics, although I think the aesthetics are really great. It’s about consistency and forcefulness of message delivery. And that’s what they really had going for them here.

Also mentioned this week:

• Aileen Kwun, Fast Company, How the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaign got its powerful design
• Brand New and Vox on Ocasio-Cortez
• Susan Sontag, On Photography
• Dave Eggers, New York Times, A Cultural Vacuum in Trump’s White House
• John Carreyrou, Bad Blood
• Steven Bach, Final Cut
• Christopher Byron, The Fanciest Dive
• Ivan Chermayeff: Mostly Early Covers at Katherine Small Gallery, Boston, through September 8, 2018
• Mostly Early Covers catalog

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