Scott Thomas ~ Designing Obama

Regardless of political affiliation, most people agree that Barack Obama ran one hell of an Internet campaign last year. I was very surprised when I first saw his site. It was the first political site that really impressed me, for two reasons. First, his site was well constructed, containing the elegance of traditional design principles, consistency in branding, and social media for outreach. Second, I was impressed that the campaign management (politicians) gave skilled designers their creative freedom. This doesn’t happen often within political/government environments.

Scott Thomas was the design director for Obama’s campaign. He orchestrated  its design, branding and website under extreme deadlines. I have been following Scott’s writings and speeches on his design philosophy: be clear, simplify, and humanize. You can see those elements reflected in his work.

The campaign site definitely set a new standard for the future of government sites. Already, we see newly-launched federal web sites, such as whitehouse.gov, data.gov, and recovery.gov shedding the outdated look and content format that are often associated with government design.

The Obama internet campaign will be a case study for many future political candidates. Recently, Scott Thomas gave a behind the scenes talk on the campaign design process. I highly recommend that anyone who’s interested in political design, or design in general, to watch this video in its entirety.

Last month, Scott launched his new project on Kickstarter. It is a wonderfully illustrated book documenting the grass-root movement many artists were involved in during the Obama Campaign. The book will be printed, if the initial budget of $65,000 is met by November 5th. So far, over 770 people have pledged almost $50,000.

This book is more than the Obama campaign – it demonstrates how powerful art and design can impact the political outcome.

Scott Thomas’ design work on the campaign last year has defined a new standard for government websites to better serve the public. In that regard, I consider him one of today’s most influential web designers.

4 Comments, please share your thoughts!

1

Alex Charchar Oct 19 2009

I’ve wondered a few times as to what the next election will be like.. Clearly those running will see what good design did for Obama and will want to replicate the results..

Which leads to me wonder if, in time, the design firm hired will be news considered as important as their policy on X or their history with Y?

It also leads one to realise that this is the kind of thing that will help establish design as the craft and force that it can be

2

Jin ☆editor☆ Oct 19 2009

Alex, many newly launched government sites, as well as politicians’ sites already stepped up in design and web standards. I imagine during the next election, it will be a battle of the websites, since the web is such a powerful medium now.

Which leads to me wonder if, in time, the design firm hired will be news considered as important as their policy on X or their history with Y?

I think so, eventually. Just like within commercial web design world, it’s a big news when a well known firm wins a major bid(e.g. HappyCog+Mozilla). I hope many established design firms, as well as talented freelance designers lend a hand in future government site design.

3

Trudy Oct 21 2009

It’s more than how he conveyed information, it is how he connected with the people and his message. Anyone can hire a great web designer, marketing team and graphic/visual artists. Very few can really consider how to connect with others and realize that people are more than numbers, races, genders–demographics. This is not to say that only Obama can do this, but those who cannot really connect others will be lost in the 2012 election, even if the best creative forces design their web presence.

4

Jin ☆editor☆ Oct 22 2009

@Trudy, well said and I agree. However, a skilled design team who understands their candidate’s vision and philosophy can execute the message better. That’s what this post is about. In order for a candidate to reach out to everyone out there, internet is an important medium because it’s instant. Thank you for your thoughts.

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