If you were a car, what would you be? Answers to questions like this are fun to think about. But what if you had to visually represent what you stood for in a logo? And then, share your personal logo with the entire country? That’s what the designers behind the presidential candidates’ campaigns had to think about while developing their logos. Needless to say, I’m sure the symbols, colors and fonts were carefully selected. And rightfully so. A brand says alot about you, whether you realize it or not.
So what do the candidates’ logos say about them? We did a quick analysis of the symbols used in John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s logos this week to find out.
McCain’s logo features a five-point star centered above his last name. According to Maggie McNab, author of Decoding Design, a five-point star is a symbol associated with life and power. “Five is the number of life and love and the number assigned to humanity.” But a star also stands for power, which could explain why they are found on many flags around the world. McCain’s star was stylized to look like the U.S. military decoration awarded for heroism or meritorious achievement.
Obama’s logo is a circle, or his initial “O”, centered above his last name and the year ‘08. According to McNab, a circle stands for wholeness, unity, integrity, inclusion, power and connectedness. There are also three red stripes cutting across the circle, creating the illusion of a sun rising above (or setting behind) rolling hills. The shapes associated with three stand for dimension and inspiration. The stripes also look very patriotic, like a crop of the red stripes on the American flag.
