Harris for President

Creative Challenge:

It’s hard to articulate how many challenges we were solving for in creating a brand that reflected and supported the charisma, expertise, candor, and identity of Vice President Harris. Many strategists, stakeholders, and professionals were dedicated to the campaign for our country’s first Black and Southeast Asian female President and Commander in Chief. A powerful brand and reintroduction of Harris to the American public was urgently needed upon her nomination. A sprint of a 107-day campaign tested all those who supported it.

While the results of the election were not at all what we hoped for and this one will always sting, our small team’s passion for the design of this brand, visual story and the exceptional, detailed execution of the system across 150 page brand book is demonstrated here.

Creative Solution:

Harris for President needed a brand that was simple, inspiring and hopeful. We approached this brand identity with joy and meaning. This reflects an earlier concept that I am very proud of, and was the DNA of the design and system further iterated into the campaign you experienced and can see in full here.

Our inspiration was derived from designers that shared an identity with the Vice President, an effort to both evoke a story of gender and strength of character, nod to a time when politics was about statesmanship, dignity, honor, and vision—and a legacy of Democratic candidates that came before including Shirley Chisholm, Hillary Clinton, John F. Kennedy, and others.

Typography was inspired by historic movements for civil rights, social and racial justice, and feminism. In this version, care was given to emphasize the candidate’s last name over her first name, a respect male candidates nearly always receive.

A core strategic concept guided this inclusive, vibrant vision, as well. “This is Our America,” reflects a campaign for the people, about the people and inclusive of all Americans, to be owned by the voters themselves.

And, while the outcome was devastating for so many of us. I’ll always be proud to have been one of the 74,938,535 people who voted for the Harris/Walz vision for America.

Wide Eye Brand Project Team:

Wide Eye Founder & ECD: Ben Ostrower
Creative Director / Strategist: Elizabeth Bawol
Associate Creative Director: Alayna Citrin
Art Director: Grace Abe
Senior Designer: Sebastian Arrendando
Designer: Matt Vogel
Director of Project Management/Account: Kayla Holbeck

And, with gratitude for the full Harris for President team and in particular, Creative Director: Kate Conway & Assoc. Creative Director: Shar Biggers for their collaboration, as well as the collaboration of type studios, Type Supply, Peregrin Studio (peregrinstudio.com), Lift Type (lift-type.fr) and Vocal Type for all the exploring along the way. And, fast.

And, so much appreciation to all the creatives, vendors, and producers I didn't know, who worked night and day for 107 days leading up to the election.

Produced: Brand Identity, Brand Book, System Design, Collateral, Merchandise, Event Design