(we're going to use these images later in the post)I'm in Northeast Mississippi and I'm seeing lots of yard signs. Every body and their brother in law has a yard sign sitting in the right of way at the intersection of Hwy 4 and Hwy 30. These yard signs represent the bulk of my interaction with politics for the last two days and thusly, they've sparked my interest. I'm also interested in why the good folks from the County Justice Center haven't taken care of those since my last trip through. It's illegal to put yard signs in right of ways and all other public properties.
Yard signs make me crazy for a variety of reasons. In a big statewide race or a targeted congressional, they're an after thought. Professionals have a catch all for the attending stuff of campaigns, the stickers, the signs, the t-shirts, all of that knick knack stuff. It's called chum. You'll spend an outrageous amount of money at the print shop and it doesn't move press, money, or polls. Lots of signs, when they're clearly attached to yards and businesses (and not stuck to fence posts on the side of the highway with bailing wire) are a good indicator of momentum late in a race. It's the sort of thing that influences people who like to vote for winners. And they require a lot more work than I imagine they're worth. There has never been a definitive number that says "for every yard sign you put in a yard, you'll get an average of x votes." There was a congressman on the West Wing who claimed that if she'd put out 12 more yards signs she'd have won her reelection bid once. I wrote the writing staff.
But there's something that agitates me worse than yard signs. Way worse. And it is inefficient use of campaign resources. So I'm going to take this opportunity on a Saturday afternoon to talk about the efficient design of a yard sign.
1. Every yard sign or campaign logo should have a star. There's nothing about it that makes any sense at all, but I have never seen a logo that I liked that didn't have a star. I loved the Yarmuth Campaign for Congress in the KY 3rd last year. Loved the candidate, the staff that I knew, his message, the whole nine yards. But I hated his logo and thought up until about October 10th that he was sunk because he didn't have a star. It's a little reminder to me that despite all of the attending nonsense that government, governing, and the choosing of elected representatives is a thing that should be dignified.
2. Size matters. We all know it. If you're not buying 18x24s, don't buy. The 12x18s look like you're short on cash. In January, I saw a sign outside a Phil Bryant rally and he had the 12x18 and I immediately thought to myself "they don't have any money. They're skimping on yard signs"
3. Blocks are out. If you've got a lot of square looking things happening in a yard sign, it's going to look old. I'm into the staggered look, but I've also started to come around on the round/swoosh move a la David Vitter and Bruce Lunsford. The diagonal thing went out years ago. I saw one today that was square, but had been cut in such a fashion as to look like a yield sign. That's new. I don't see much that's new, but I had never seen that before. Good job Travis Childers.
4. And this is the most important thing. It's why I started this post. We buy 1 color printing because it's cheap. That's why we do it. No question. But in printshop world, white is not a color.
Therefore, you have two options. See the images at the top of the post. One is blue text on white, which appears to be the favorite in my neck of the woods. And then there's white text on blue background. Which one of these looks better. The eye is attracted to the color. The blue one gets more attention. Promise.
Yard signs make me crazy for a variety of reasons. In a big statewide race or a targeted congressional, they're an after thought. Professionals have a catch all for the attending stuff of campaigns, the stickers, the signs, the t-shirts, all of that knick knack stuff. It's called chum. You'll spend an outrageous amount of money at the print shop and it doesn't move press, money, or polls. Lots of signs, when they're clearly attached to yards and businesses (and not stuck to fence posts on the side of the highway with bailing wire) are a good indicator of momentum late in a race. It's the sort of thing that influences people who like to vote for winners. And they require a lot more work than I imagine they're worth. There has never been a definitive number that says "for every yard sign you put in a yard, you'll get an average of x votes." There was a congressman on the West Wing who claimed that if she'd put out 12 more yards signs she'd have won her reelection bid once. I wrote the writing staff.
But there's something that agitates me worse than yard signs. Way worse. And it is inefficient use of campaign resources. So I'm going to take this opportunity on a Saturday afternoon to talk about the efficient design of a yard sign.
1. Every yard sign or campaign logo should have a star. There's nothing about it that makes any sense at all, but I have never seen a logo that I liked that didn't have a star. I loved the Yarmuth Campaign for Congress in the KY 3rd last year. Loved the candidate, the staff that I knew, his message, the whole nine yards. But I hated his logo and thought up until about October 10th that he was sunk because he didn't have a star. It's a little reminder to me that despite all of the attending nonsense that government, governing, and the choosing of elected representatives is a thing that should be dignified.
2. Size matters. We all know it. If you're not buying 18x24s, don't buy. The 12x18s look like you're short on cash. In January, I saw a sign outside a Phil Bryant rally and he had the 12x18 and I immediately thought to myself "they don't have any money. They're skimping on yard signs"
3. Blocks are out. If you've got a lot of square looking things happening in a yard sign, it's going to look old. I'm into the staggered look, but I've also started to come around on the round/swoosh move a la David Vitter and Bruce Lunsford. The diagonal thing went out years ago. I saw one today that was square, but had been cut in such a fashion as to look like a yield sign. That's new. I don't see much that's new, but I had never seen that before. Good job Travis Childers.
4. And this is the most important thing. It's why I started this post. We buy 1 color printing because it's cheap. That's why we do it. No question. But in printshop world, white is not a color.
Therefore, you have two options. See the images at the top of the post. One is blue text on white, which appears to be the favorite in my neck of the woods. And then there's white text on blue background. Which one of these looks better. The eye is attracted to the color. The blue one gets more attention. Promise.
Forgive the crappy artwork. And the length of what is really a nonsense post. I just had to get this off my chest.
Our Cotton Mouth signs don't have stars. :) I'm just saying maybe we won't win election. (ha.)
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing I've noticed (in and around Jackson, mostly) is after elections are over, people use leftover campaign signs to advertize yard sales and stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with your stuff about the signs. I hate ugly campaign literature and I do think that Phil Bryant is being stingy with his money when it comes to making signs
I do remember the Musgrove's and Blackmon's signs being smaller than Tuck's and Barbour's. I remember thinking that due to that the Democrats' signs looked "cheap."
ReplyDelete5:44 PM, May 26, 2007
Well, for whatever it's worth, as a data point (and we all know if a data point's bad, you just throw it out)
ReplyDeleteI was mixed up in a primary campaign against an incumbent for a state house seat. Our candidate would not use yard signs, on principle. Our candidate got fewer votes than the candidate for the state Democratic Executive committee, at our box, and did not do much better elsewhere. The point is that name recognition matters, and in a rural district yard signs are a good way to get it.
Just chiming in on bronwyn lane's post - back in the day, roadside/yard signs used to be plastic or coated cardboard on wooden stakes. My wife and I would go out the morning after election day and collect signs as the stakes were great for staking up tomatoes!
Also, you could get a little insight into the campaigns - there were some stakes that were rough sawn lumber obviously ripped down to 1X2 and then others still had the Lowe's bar-code sticker on them (from which it was clear that the campaign had gotten 2 stakes from a single 1x2x8-foot prime board)
I was searching some thing relevant to this, And i am feeling lucky, as its the perfect one for what i am looking for. I will share this cheap yard signs
ReplyDelete