All Of The 2020 Democratic Presidential Campaign Logos, Ranked
Earlier this week I watched every single Democratic presidential candidates’ launch videos and ranked them. Now I’m going through and ranking all of their campaign logos.
It’s interesting to see the campaign logos each presidential election year because you can see how much impact Obama’s iconic 2008 logo had on the years since. Obama was the first presidential candidate to have a logo that represented a brand. His “O” paved the way for Hillary Clinton’s “H” design. Since 2008, candidates have been making more interesting choices (Jeb Bush, Martin O’Malley) to help them stand out from the pack, as well as to build their brand.
I’m not a graphic design expert so my commentary here is light. But I enjoy seeing all of the logos and comparing the design choices each candidate made. Some go the safe route, with standard logos you typically see every election cycle (red, white, and blue; stars; American flag). Others chose a different route, forgoing the traditional features for bolder and more memorable designs.
28. Joe Sestak
The worst campaign logo goes to Joe Sestak. I had to google “ADM,” so that’s already a bad sign (unless I’m just dumb and that’s actually a well-known acronym?). Not only does this not work as a presidential campaign logo, but I don’t think this can work as a logo for… anything.
27. Jay Inslee
Unfortunately, Inslee’s logo looks more like the front cover of a science textbook than a good campaign logo.
26. Bill de Blasio
This is one of the ugliest campaign logos I’ve ever seen. The neon green certainly makes it stand out from the sea of blue logos prevalent in almost every campaign logo, but it’s just unappealing here.
25. Wayne Messam
Messam’s logo is what you’d expect from your average presidential campaign. It’s boring, inoffensive, and uses red and blue.
24. Eric Swalwell
Combining his name with the American flag isn’t the most inspired design choice, but, again, this is a standard campaign logo.
23. Steve Bullock
Repeat what I said previously for Eric Swalwell.
22. Mike Gravel
It’s not particularly memorable but I appreciate the shade of red he uses here, which looks different from the standard red used in most campaigns.
21. Michael Bennet
This is a safe and simple logo. Again, I appreciate the use of a different shade of red, with this one being more muted.
20. Tim Ryan and Cory Booker (Tie)
These are almost the same exact logos… And they look like cheap bumper stickers.
19. Deval Patrick
The blue and green works better here than in Bill de Blasio’s logo, probably because the shade of blue chosen for Deval Patrick doesn’t contrast as much with the green. This isn’t a memorable logo but it’s comfortable and pleasing to the eyes.
18. Michael Bloomberg
This looks like an Olympics logo.
17. John Delaney
The red, white, and blue “road ahead” image used here kinda works. Everything else is pretty standard.
16. Amy Klobuchar
Green is a popular choice this election cycle. I don’t know if I’m making any sense but the green here brings to mind farming, agriculture, and the midwest - so I guess it works for Klobuchar’s Minnesota roots (I haven’t fact checked if Minnesota is even a farming/agriculture state). This feels like a solid logo, the colors chosen are pleasing to the eyes, and the overall design has a sort of folksy charm to it.
15. Andrew Yang
The design choice is what you’d expect from a standard presidential campaign, but the prominence of Yang’s last name helps it stand out among a pack of western names we mostly see. He could’ve just used his first name like many other candidates, but Yang chose to use his unapologetically Taiwanese last name.
14. Tom Steyer
I don’t like orange but it works here to complement the blue in his name. The orange also helps it stand out since I’ve never seen a campaign logo with orange. I like the alliteration here (“Tom Twenty Twenty”).
13. Richard Ojeda
This is both an ugly logo but also a bold and badass one. It totally represents the candidate himself.
12. Seth Moulton
I’m not sure how I feel about this as a presidential campaign logo, but in general it’s a nice looking design. The star in the middle brings to mind space rather than patriotism, though.
11. Marianne Williamson
It’s simple but uses a solid sans serif typeface (I drool for sans serif). The pop of bright pink is a nice touch that complements the dark navy.
10. Elizabeth Warren
Warren’s logo isn’t the most eye-catching, but it’s effectively simple. The underline makes a statement, I like the navy color, and I appreciate the soft corners in the letters.
9. Pete Buttigieg
This reminds me of sports and I don’t care for sports. But I do like its simplicity. And the bridge-like shape around his name is meant to represent the Jefferson Blvd Bridge in his home city of South Bend, Indiana. It’s a nice touch.
8. Joe Biden
It’s simple, clean, uses a strong typeface, and I like the minimalistic flag used here to represent the “E” in his name.
7. Bernie Sanders
If it were any other candidate, this logo would’ve been lower on my list because it’s the typical campaign logo you’d expect from any election pre-2016. But this was the very logo Bernie Sanders used in his monumental 2016 run, so it’s heavily associated with his “revolutionary” brand. It’s iconic.
6. Kirsten Gillibrand
I appreciate Gillibrand’s willingness to go with a bright pink color, a color our society associates with women and femininity, because it supports her position as a strong advocate for women. The pink and black contrast surprisingly works.
5. Julian Castro
This is a beautiful and clean logo. I like the dark navy color, with a brighter blue to emphasize his Hispanic roots.
4. John Hickenlooper
This is a pretty logo. The purple and blue go well together, and it’s a nice touch adding the mountains that call back to his home state of Colorado.
3. Beto O’Rourke
I really like Beto’s logo, which is practically the same one he used for his historic senate run. I’ve been told his signature campaign color is black, rather than using any blue or red, because he wants to represent everyone - not just Democrats or Republicans. It’s a nice message. This is a solid logo with a clean and strong typeface.
2. Kamala Harris
The first thing I think of when I see this logo is Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - especially when Kamala Harris puts the logo against her signature yellow background. This is one of the more memorable campaign logos because it’s more fun, poppy, and friendly.
1. Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard might not be the best candidate but she has my favorite campaign logo. I love the typeface used here. It feels the most modern and cool. I do like the colors, though it was an odd choice to use sunset colors rather than sunrise ones.