Making Their Mark: Rating 2016 Campaign Logos
Presidential candidates’ logos are just part of a campaign’s effort to connect with voters, but they say a lot about the candidate’s brand and help with name recognition.
CQ Roll Call asked designers who specialize in creating logos and brand identity what they thought about the 2016 crop of candidates’ logos. Here are some of their critiques.
Jeb Bush: “It looks like it belongs on a toy or something like that, versus as a presidential logo. … Jeb probably needs a complete redesign because it just doesn’t represent him.”
— Toufan Rahimpour, COO of online design agency Logoworks
Chris Christie: “That doesn’t say, ‘presidential’ to me. That doesn’t say, ‘statesman.’ I really don’t think that’s the message you want to convey.”
— Kate Tallent, principal and creative director of KTD Creative
Hillary Rodham Clinton: “Hillary Clinton is a known entity, but I think to not have her name as part of the logo, and the logo itself is not that strong. … Hillary’s logo could have benefited from some more time.”
— Tallent
Ted Cruz: “It’s a little cliche, there’s nothing that really stands out. … Is that a flame? Is that a water droplet? I’m just not sure what it’s trying to present.”
— Rahimpour
Carly Fiorina: “That one reminds me of Macy’s.”
— Molly Mann, a lead graphic designer at Top Shelf Design
Bobby Jindal: “It’s like a candy cane or something. I feel it’s kind of going up against the big ‘H.’”
— Dan Banks, founder and creative director of the Project Design Company
Martin O’Malley: “It doesn’t say presidential at all and it’s too evocative of the Andre [the Giant] OBEY [logo]. That is a solid F.”
— Tallent
Rand Paul: “The torch is kind of interesting, [but] it feels to me a bit heavy handed. It feels like a logo I would see in Home Depot — more like a product or a tool brand than a campaign.”
— Banks
Marco Rubio: “I think the typography is nice. It comes across in a friendly way. … The United States as an ‘i’ dot is not needed and we lose two states and territories so it doesn’t represent all of America.”
— Banks
Bernard Sanders: “Very basic. You could replace anybody’s name with that. It’s very generic.”
— Rahimpour
Scott Walker:
“Walker’s is the worst in terms of name recognition, which I think is the most important thing at this stage.”
— Walter Carlton, principal and art director of Spark Design
Roll Call Race Ratings Map: Ratings for Every House and Senate Race in 2016
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