Political campaigns are fundamentally about trust. A winning campaign and message needs to present the trust contrast exactly right, this is why I choose to accept a truly authentic client, Michael McMahon for Assembly Campaign 2022. This project was developed and executed through conceptual design to completion. McMahon is a unique political candidate and one of Southern California's most valued heroes. He is one of the few candidates running for a State office who has set himself apart because of his bravery, personal sacrifices, integrity, motivations, intentions and the fact that he is not a politician but is living and working as an every day average American. This is one of the main reasons his base has grew so rapidly. These are the main attributes that provided the framework to shape the overall campaign, integrating message, mechanics, and management to ensure the path to success and secure endorsements and votes.
As a Creative Director, Strategist, Designer, Co-Copywriter and intermittent Political Consultant, I worked with McMahon on messaging and presented alternative options and edits, and the overall vision we needed to communicate, quickly, clearly, and most importantly activate memory retention and a bold call to action through simplistic organized layouts, bold typography, color, short headings and copy that were straight to the point and extremely honest, as this is exactly what his voters are begging for from a candidate. Using direct response designing, paired with supporting visual elements, such as the striking color of his party, uplifting and bright photography selections and a bold unmistakable logo, I was able to produce the client with a campaign that was not only effective, inviting and straightforward, but one that genuinely resonated with his district.
I consulted the client on which accompanying and/or necessary accounts to create, designed and programmed the website and all supporting graphics at lightning speed due to the urgent election deadline. I quickly worked with vendors, printers, and my pool of professional resources, as well as community networking, to deliver a range of tangible products and promotional materials that arrived on budget, were great quality, and presented the best cost effective options within urgent deadlines. My creative strategy results featured an expanded base of supporters, endorsements, interviews, speaking engagements, encouraged citizen grassroots digital and physical promotion and increased resident awareness. The results of this campaign achieved it's goal for voters to complete an action of remembering and physically "writing in" his full name, as opposed to filling in a bubble. Michael McMahon won his race in the California State Assembly Primary Election and is now hailed one of the brightest stars in the Southern California political arena.
