Creative Synthesis

The visual style of electoral politics has changed dramatically since the early nineteenth century.  As depicted by historian Michael McGerr, limitations imposed by printing technology, the widespread use of oral balloting, and a different, more visceral, style of electioneering created a more raucous, localized political world, one in which the aesthetics of democratic practice played a small role.

Improvements in design and media corresponded with the expansion of American democracy after the Civil War through the present.  The increasing importance of visual communication and design in modern campaigns has attracted the attention of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).  The professional group’s Design for Democracy program, started in 1998, began as a broad tool for increasing civic participation and promoting collaboration between citizens, government agencies, and the private sector.

After the 2000 “butterfly ballot” debacle in Florida (seen above), Design for Democracy’s focus narrowed to issues related to ballot design the material presentation of polling places.  Following a trial run in which the AIGA used reformed ballot design to make Cook County, Illinois, elections more democratic, and series of partnerships with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the EAC decided to use Design for Democracy’s recommendations as the basis for guidelines given to state and local election officials governing ballot design, the layout of polling places, and other issues related to access and usability.

The 2008 presidential election cycle marks one of the first large-scale tests for the new standards.  To commemorate the event and document the variety of voting experiences, Design for Democracy and the New York Times are sponsoring a Polling Place Voting Project.

Actual balloting represents a milestone in participatory democracy.  To foster involvement, the AIGA has worked in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 election cycles to create nonpartisan posters encouraging voter awareness and action.  The campaign relies on local designers and artists; submissions will open shortly.

The AIGA’s broad effort to promote involvement in civil society—part of its broader goal of nurturing the common good—recalls, in some ways, the art programs of the late 1930s.  Under the auspices of the New Deal, the government worked closely with artists and graphic designers to encourage support for community institutions as well as local and national culture.  In both cases, collaboration led to a greater sense of participation for the civic good.