Print campaign materials that will make the voters aware of your candidacy in the municipal election 2022. Do you know what options are most effective and why?

Municipal elections are very important. On this level, representatives are most connected with their community. This is why you should make sure people are aware of your plans to improve your community.

You need to prepare print materials that will help make your campaign successful. We are living in the digital age, yes, but research shows that retention of information is higher if we see something on paper than what we see on screen. And your candidacy is too important to miss out on the opportunity that print marketing offers.

To help you plan your design, print, and hand-out timeline, we have a table with municipal election 2022 dates in different provinces.

Design Guidelines for Municipal Election 2022 Materials

• First and foremost, remember that you are the face of your campaign. You need to make sure you are represented at your best in your print materials. This means that quality photographs are a must. It is probably a good idea to hire a professional photographer to ensure your photos will print the way they should. You are your own brand.
• Make your message relatable. Make sure you know the main problems in your community and offer solutions. Your policies should be memorable and as easy to understand as possible. Remember, your goal is to appeal to the broadest audience possible.
• Make sure it is evident in your campaign materials why you are the best choice for your community.
• The colour palette you choose for the design and your logo should be easy to look at. You want people to be able to read your campaign materials without straining their eyes.
• Also, the design should help guide the reader through the text naturally.
• Quality is important. You want people to see you as respectable, reliable, and trustworthy. Your print material should reflect those qualities.
• Make sure there is contact information. People will want to know how to reach you.

Breaking Down the Design Process for An Election Campaign

The very first thing your campaign will need is a logo. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy and complicated, but keep in mind it will have to work on marketing materials of multiple sizes. It will have to read well on postcards and flyers, as well as on lawn and road signs. Your logo can be just your name in two complementary fonts, or in the same font of different weights. Speaking of fonts, having one main font and a secondary font is optimal not just for your logo, but for all the marketing materials you are designing. The same rule can be applied to colors. You should have one main color, one secondary color plus white and black. This way your handouts will be consistent, easy to remember and easy to read.

In this example, we started with the logo design following the guidelines above, by choosing our main and complementary font. We knew we wanted to have a blue and purple color scheme, so we tested a few different color combinations until we found one that works best.

The final touch was adding a check mark to the logo to symbolize voting. We first went with the white check mark, but we found it would take the attention away from the candidate’s name, so in the final version we made it more subtle.

Add A Face to Your Name

As already mentioned, having your photo is one of the key elements of an election campaign. From a design perspective, this is especially important because large format prints such as banners and posters require high resolution images in order to print in high quality. In case you fail to provide your designers with a high resolution headshot, the photo of you will be printed blurry and pixelated. And that doesn’t really portray a candidate as professional and reliable. These are all the reasons we recommend hiring a professional portrait photographer.

Once you have your headshot, make sure you use it. Place it on all your marketing materials and introduce yourself to your community.

The back side of your candidate cards and flyers is a good place to explain what you stand for and share your message. In terms of design, this area is usually text-heavy, so try to make it as easy to read as possible. Don’t use a font size that is too small and hard to read. If this happens, it is a better idea to alter the text and make it shorter. Also, having black text usually prints a little bit better and sharper at smaller font sizes, so don’t go too crazy with the font colors on text-heavy materials.

In case you need help with the design for your elections campaign, you can contact our design team.

There are both hand-out campaign materials and large format prints that can help you spread your message.

Hand out Materials

These are used to convey your message. Voters can take them and read them carefully when they have time. They also constantly remind your voters that your goals align when they pop up on the counter or in the bag.

Postcards (Candidate Cards)

Postcards can be sent through direct mail or handed out. These municipal elections candidate cards are the best way to tell the voters who you are and the ideas you promote in your campaign. Usually, there's a photo on one side with a short and clear call to action. The other side is text-heavy. This way, you first create a connection through the picture and then let the voters know about yourself and your campaign. This makes the natural flow of real-life interactions. First, the introduction, and then the conversation.

As voters are usually interested in people representing their community, they are highly likely to read these postcards they get through direct mail. But, they can also be a great conversation starter if you are campaigning door to door.

The most popular size for postcards is 9x6 inches.

Flyers

Getting your message spread on the streets can be crucial. You want to reach as many voters as possible. And flyers offer enough space to convey your message. State your goals and plans clearly and concisely, so the voters know what to expect if you are elected. Make sure to choose goals that are most relatable to the community members. You want people to know you will represent them and ensure community needs are met.

The most popular flyer sizes are 5.5x8.5 inches and 4x9 inches.

Door Hangers

Door hanger are a great way to ensure your voters know you are not some stranger but part of their city and neighborhood. You are walking the same streets they do. They are not sent by mail. They need to be placed personally on every door knob. This creates connections with the community and sends a message of your involvement.

Another positive aspect of door hangers is that it is hard to ignore something you see on your doorknob on your way in or out of your home. If you do the design well and have a strong message, one glance should be enough to capture their attention.

The most popular door hanger size is 4.25x11 inches.

Large-format Print

Large format print has more space than the ones we previously mentioned. But it is usually used as a reminder rather than for stating your goals. You want to make your message is big and bold, not crowd these campaign materials with words. They can't be taken and kept, and they are only seen in passing. Not many people will studiously read them, but they are hard to miss. So, a call to action and your name and photo should perfectly serve your municipal election 2022 campaign goals.

Posters

You can place posters in the shop windows, at bus or train stations. And any other place with high traffic volume. Make sure they are easy to read and understand. They are usually seen as an unconscious reminder of you and your campaign.

The most popular poster sizes are 11x17 inches, 18x24 inches and 24x36 inches.

Banners

The most valuable benefit of banners is that you can move them around. You can take them with you while campaigning and set them in different venues.

The size of our retractable banners is 33x80 inches.

Yard Signs

Yard signs are a great way to have your supporters endorse your campaign. People will always think of you more highly if they see many others publicly supporting you. They are all part of the same community. Everybody is encouraged to vote for the same candidate as the majority of their neighbourhood, as their goals are likely to align.

The most popular yard sign size is 18x24 inches.

Short design reminder for the municipal election 2022

Every municipal election print material should have:

• A high-quality head shot
• Your branding - logo, and colors
• The most important issues you want to address
• Contact information (website, social media, phone number, email address)

We hope this will help you choose the right combination of print materials for your municipal election 2022 campaign. As repeating your message is crucial, keeping them as diverse as possible is the best option. But, if having them all is not the right choice for you, make sure you choose the ones that will make the most impact in your community.