Politicians and parties come and go. Their web presences are usually no different, but then we had an interesting thought: What if we could help would-be public servants build branding that drove real action?
What if political branding could make a genuine impact instead of just being forgotten like most outreach? Our design team set out to learn whether it was possible.
At Kingdom Branding, healthy communication is part of our ethos – not to mention one of the hallmarks of a functional democracy. Here’s how we achieved that in partnership with some of the campaigns and nonprofit movements working to better the world.
Action-Focused By Design: UI / UX Strategies
When it comes to politicians and digital presence, a strong, reliable, and confident image is crucial to maintain. Constituents and voters often rely on the internet and websites to find information on politicians and aspiring political candidates. As the majority of people search Google, it’s very likely they’ll find press or news mentions regarding elections. But oftentimes, they are looking for quick and informative bites of information. A functional and beautiful website is a great way to update your constituents on information and control your own narrative. When it comes to your website presence, there are specific UI / UX strategies designers can implement so that candidates stand out and constituents are informed.
- Never overlook accessibility. – From choosing appropriate brand colors to offering translation/language plugins, this will allow anyone who visits your site to access crucial information regarding your proposed issues, history, and endorsements. Read more on making your website ADA and WCAG 2.1 compliant.
- Rely on research and strategy re: your constituents and implement it in your structure & content. You know your constituents best. It’s important to consider language barriers, age, and any additional factors that may provide insight on building the most effective and accessible websites.
- Clear CTA’s & movement with purpose. – Your CTA should be prominent and enticing. Hover effects and animations encourage visitors to engage and reach out to their representatives.
- Consistent and clean design. – Consistency doesn’t have to mean boring or status quo. It’s important to maintain an on-brand presence that gives a sense of continuity. A strong presence in all key areas and you, push the bounds of your imagination and keep your website visitors happy.
Work Stories
Democratic Party of Illinois
When the Democratic Party of Illinois(DPI) wanted to make a genuine difference in communities statewide, it came to us.
The DPI wanted a clean, contemporary web presence. It needed to elicit a positive perception of government, governance, and democracy – not exactly simple messaging.
It takes collective action to make a difference – so we stepped up to the challenge with the vision of an Illinois that works for everyone. By focusing on the DPI rebrand around circular forms, we evoked a pervasive sense of unity.
The new DPI website incorporates a strong focus on UI / UX. By leveraging eye-catching animations and clear CTA’s, we created a platform that’s easy to navigate – and SEO optimized.
Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights
Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights needed to tell voters about a new law: the Workers’ Rights Amendment. This pending legislation stood to protect the Illinois middle class, but the public didn’t even know about it.
Our campaign solution familiarized workers across the state about the legislation – And its groundbreaking impacts. Building on the existing Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights Branding, we developed a site that put the audience’s perspective at the forefront and spread vital information.
Next, we conducted workshops and research to unify their branding in pursuit of the mission goals: Growing, informing, and building community while encouraging action.
Finally, we created a custom API integration and automated workflows to power the Me + 3 campaign. This hands-off movement let users invite their peers to pledge – and kept the conversation going by automatically sending each participant a Workers’ Rights Tool Kit.
CASA of Cook County
Neglect and abuse in the foster care system are serious issues. Although Child Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cook County was striving to tackle the problem, the team couldn’t do it alone.
We built a website showcasing CASA’s important work – inspiring supporters and volunteers all the while. We also created and refined a social strategy, event marketing materials, and seasonal nonprofit appeals to advance the story at every engagement.
CASA’s messaging was just as crucial as its mission. Our team pushed the narrative quickly per the national organization’s design guidelines. This left the local branch free to do what it did best – focus on service and let the branding speak for itself.
Senator Robert Peters
When Senator Robert Peters reached out to us, he wanted one thing – to build a platform that furthered the change in the city of Chicago.
We created a website that couched Senator Peters’ message regarding his strengths: his passion for his work, successfully balanced budgets, and constant push for criminal justice reform.
By making it easy for the senator’s team to post, integrate social media, and share information, we put the focus on serving constituents – instead of the bureaucratic process. We also built a Take Action hub that directly benefited users in the 13th Senate District, powering voter registrations, volunteering, and grassroots activism.
Alexi Giannoulias
Independent Democrat Alexi Giannoulas ran for Illinois Secretary of State to restore trust in government and its elected leaders. We built a bold brand identity with just that in mind, using inclusive colors to deliver the message of accessibility and service.
The Alexi for Us portal and drove home the philosophy of putting people first and facilitating equal opportunity. After creating the brand identity and site, we followed up with an SEO strategy designed to make the entire campaign feel personable – not just the online presence.
Chigozie Onyema
New Jersey resident Chigozie Onyema’s goal in the running for City Council was to bring every neighborhood in Newark’s West Ward together. He wanted to convey that a better ward (community) was indeed possible.
We built the engine that let his campaign communicate that message.
Our team tackled this problem through a studied combination of easy-to-use WordPress website design, hosting, social media marketing, email automation, and print material design. Chigozie’s new site put his experience front-and-center, prompted action, and drove voter registration in the Election Day run-up.
Conclusion
So, what did we learn? Well, building a service-oriented web presence is no walk in the park – but luckily, we were committed from day one.
We went beyond cultivating a deep understanding of our clients’ messaging and target audiences. We also helped them adapt to the realities of SEO-intensive, high-contact campaigning.
We thrive on creating web presences that combine intelligent design principles with omnichannel outreach, insightful analytics, and engaging content. Nothing is more rewarding than helping the people and organizations that shape our collective future. We love building better branding journeys – and keeping audiences riveted.
Want to elevate your campaign, establish a presence, get the word out, and stay front of mind? Reach out to the Kingdom Branding team to get started now.
