Citizens for David Miller

Over the summer of 2010, I served as the Director of New Media for State Representative David Miller’s campaign for Illinois Comptroller.

I created and maintained the campaign’s website, designed print materials such as direct mailings and walk-pieces, and wrote, designed, and executed the campaign’s email blasts.

As part of a small campaign staff, I also took on other responsibilities such as staffing the candiate, coordinating volunteers, and representing the campaign at Democratic events across the state.

The David Miller Brand

From some early conversations with the candidate and campaign manager, I identified the need for a main campaign brand and two sub-brands to suit specific messaging requirements.

For Representative Miller’s main campaign brand, I used  Hoefler and Frere-Jones Hoefler Text and Knockout, and the Obama color palate:

The two sub-brands, the “grassroots” style and the “historic” style were used for events and communications. They mixed in additional typefaces and colors, as well as textures and design motifs.

When I joined the campaign, there was already an established logo that had gained statewide exposure:

I thought the logo was confused – it included superfluous design elements and bad typography.

I didn’t want to make the logo unrecognizable, but I did want to simplify it. Operating under the assumption that voters knew what state they lived in and what year it was, I reduced the logo to its most basic elements. I also updated the typography:

This was the logo used for the remainder of the campaign.

I also created some alternate visual motifs for specific campaign themes and messages, such as the “Open Government for Illinois” logo which used Hoefler Text’s Arabesques:

Campaign Website

My next priority was to rapidly redevelop the campaign’s website.

When I began, the campaign website was a bit of a mess:

I redesigned the website to improve its usability and reflect the new campaign branding. The primary goal of the new site was to push visitors to sign up for email updates, so I began by reworking the architecture of the website in wireframe:

I started with a wide header that placed registration front and center, and designed the rest of the site around that idea.

My next step was to make the website’s background, which uses color and light to emphasize the signup area.

From there, I set to work developing the signup form itself:

I modeled the form after the Obama campaign’s Vote for Change website; it’s presented in stages to the user, which dramatically increases the chances that a user will fill out all five required fields to join the campaign.

It’s animated with the jQuery slide function, and Alen Grakalic’s stunningly lightweight Easy Slider 1.5. The form delivered signups directly into the campaign’s NGP database.

Here’s the finished site:

Each page offered visitors the ability to email that page to five friends, and also to share that page using social media:

Print Design

I created all the print pieces for the campaign, including submissions to event booklets and graphics and signage for the office. The piece above was a huge poster created for the Democrats’ booth at the Illinois State Fair.

Email Graphics

I designed and executed the Miller email campaign. For each email, I wrote the first draft, created custom graphics, built the list, send the email, and analyzed the statistics after it was sent to improve performance of future emails.

Business Cards

I created some unique business cards for the staff:

Problem Solving

Early on in the campaign we needed a county map of Illinois that we could overlay our data onto so that we could determine where to deploy resources and send the candidate.

We didn’t have a budget to purchase a projector or even print a giant poster, so I designed a map that we could print in-house and tile. I fitted it to the office wall and used post-it notes for the data overlay. The map was free to the campaign.

I also had to utilize our limited office resources to create a comprehensive new media operation to handle web design, live analytic tracking, print production and scheduling. If you’ve ever wanted to spend 60+ hours a week working at a folding table, campaign offices might be for you!