Frank Bush for Judge Campaign
Using UX principles to design a website and print ads for a Judicial campaign
My role - UX and Graphic designer
Who is Frank Bush?
Frank Bush is an attorney in a small West Virginian town. He is a democrat who was running for judge in a primarily republican area. The goal of this campaign was to emphasize that this was a nonpartisan election and focus on Frank’s experience as a lawyer and contributions to a community he has spent over 30 years in.
My Role
I was initially brought on to be the graphic designer. I was asked to create yard signs, pamphlets, postcards, stickers, t-shirts, and billboards. But as the campaign grew, so did the responsibilities. I was soon asked to be the UX designer of the campaign website as well. Collaborating with a small team of strategists.
Over the course of 4 months I worked closely with the team to get a better understanding of the people of Elkins. Who was voting, who wasn’t and why? What were the best ways to get the message out without becoming like an annoying political ad?
First step, yard signs
Throughout this journey I consulted the wonderful book “The Campaign Manager” by Cathrine Shaw. Having never worked on a campaign of any kind I needed some guidance. Yard signs were said to be step 1. They are the best ways to get the word out. To work with the nonpartisan guideline I decided to use the state colors. But to also work with familiarity I modeled the design to be similar to that of previous winning campaigns. This proved to be an effective strategy. People were not only complimenting the signs, but also requesting their own to be displayed on their property to show support.