Within the United States political sphere there tends to only be binary solutions to the increasingly complex and demanding issues that face our nation. As a two party system further stagnates action on issues that require immediate attention, we have also seen a stagnation in the enthusiasm and look that accompanies our candidates and their ideals, beliefs, and policies as they run for office. We continuously see the same tired red, white, and blue plastered on the name of the equally dusty, tired, and old politicians that come to represent our country with each election cycle. Even President Obama’s campaign branding and look from both his 2008 and 2012 run for presidential office has begun to wear thin as other democratic politicians and nominees co-opted the look for their own marathon to the finish line at the polls. During the 2018 midterm elections a breath of fresh air came when one of the house of representatives youngest and “most radical” sitting members came into office for New York’s 14th congressional district. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won in an upset during the 2018 midterm elections against Joe Crowley, with her platform of Medicare-for-all, abolishing ICE, strict gun control, housing as a human right, banning private prisons, and raising the minimum wage. Her revolutionary campaign branding was far different than many of her peers and has since inspired many politicians of progressive campaigns to adopt the look.
After Ocasio-Cortez began her campaign, she hired Tandem, a New York-based creative firm, to design her campaign’s branding. She’s close friends with the firm’s co-founders, Scott Starrett and Shaun Gillen, who also designed for two new progressive political groups Justice Democrats and the Brand New Congress. Her revolutionary spirit combined with her loud and action based ideals came to represent a disruption in the status quo, inspiring young progressive peers running for office and certainly highlighting the democratic parties infighting between progressive members and more centrist members of the party. Her original posters included a purple blend of the two parties blue and red and boasted a positive yellow that was uplifting and exciting. This departure from the nation’s patriotic color scheme and the inclusion of a photo element as seen in previous political design movements like constructivism made sure that her loud character was set apart from her colleagues. What is most striking about it is the inclusion of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the poster itself. Often most political adverts are void of the character it represents, solely relying on the name to carry votes to the ballot box. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s youth and positivity is exemplified in the photo used on the poster, her head turned up and looking forward towards a new future. The photo montage technique worked brilliantly alongside the color palette change.
The reason I find Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s branding so provocative is because of her performance in the house since her victory and how her branding came to represent a different group of Americans. Her progressive views are held by many Americans but those same Americans rarely found a candidate that would represent them correctly. Many democrats before her were incredibly centrist and focused on compromise with their republicans peers who wanted anything but. Well this does show a clear divide in the democratic party it has given many progressive voters hope that their voices will be heard and action will be taken. Her branding style has even been seen in Bernie Sanders second run for office in the 2020 democratic primaries. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is currently in her second term within the house of representatives and has continued to fight for progressive policies since her breakthrough branding came about in 2018.
