FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“A notable and noble achievement, applying the craft of graphic design in the service of the public interest.”
Edward Tufte, author of Beautiful Evidence

“Design is all too often concerned with an audience of consumers, but Design for Democracy fully recognizes its audience as citizens. A thoughtful demonstration of how the practice of design can productively engage the public, this book is urgently necessary.”
Geoff Kaplan, designer, General Working Group

Design for Democracy
Ballot + Election Design

Marcia Lausen
Copublished with AIGA | the professional association for design

Palm Beach County, Florida, with its notorious butterfly ballots and hanging chads, effectively disenfranchised thousands of voters in the 2000 presidential election, possibly changing the course of U.S. history forever. Four years later, Cuyahoga County, Ohio—to mention just one example—gave key swing state voters ballots on which the arrows and punch holes were not properly aligned with candidates’ names. So what’s in store, in November 2008, for your county, your state? Will you wake up on the morning after next year’s presidential election to find that egregiously flawed voting implements have once again thrown a nation’s future into question? Not if Design for Democracy can help it. There is no better time than now, this book makes urgently clear, to prevent another generation of hanging chads by ushering in new ballots—and registration forms, and instructions at the polling place—that are designed to guarantee that our voices are heard.

As we’ve learned the hard way in recent elections, that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Our entire voting process, from registering to vote to following instructions at the polling place, can be almost as confusing as those infamous Florida ballots. Tackling this grave problem head-on, Design for Democracy presents adaptable design models that can improve almost every part of the election process by maximizing the clarity and usability of ballots, registration forms, posters and signs, informational brochures and guides, and even administrative materials for pollworkers. This handsome volume also lays out specific guidelines—covering issues like color palette, typography, and image use—that anchor the comprehensive election design system devised by the group of specialists from whose name the book takes its title. Part of a major AIGA strategic program, this group’s prototypes and recommendations have already been used successfully in major Illinois and Oregon elections and, collected here, are poised to spread across the country.

An essential tool for designers and election officials, lawmakers and citizens, Design for Democracy harnesses the power of design to increase voter confidence, promote government transparency, and, perhaps most important, create an informed—and empowered—electorate.

Marcia Lausen, a founding member of Design for Democracy, is professor of graphic design at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a principal at Studio/lab, a multidisciplinary design consulting firm.

 

Marcia Lausen is available for interviews. For more information, please contact Megan Marz at (773) 702-7490 or mmarz@press.uchicago.edu