“All Glory to the Hypno-Toad”
“He has a sign”
“My President is black. This sign is blue.”
“My taxes aren’t as high as I am”
“Jump rope with a Muslim”
“Freedom fries! NEVER FORGET”
“My arm is tired”
“I forgot to make “a sign”
“Hyberole is the worst thing EVER!”
“BEARS R PEOPLE 2”
“DINOSAUR: Never forget”
The most important consideration when choosing colors for a campaign sign is to choose colors that contrast so that voters are drawn to the sign. Also, be sure to choose colors and a design that makes the text easily readable. Choosing a red, white and blue color scheme is usually readable if the text is of an appropriate size and font, but the sign will get lost the in the crowd.
While the sign will look professional, it won’t get attention both because it will look similar to other candidates’ patriotic-looking yard signs and there are other colors options that grab voters’ attention better. Take a look at bandit signs from small businesses on the side of the road. Many of these signs are yellow and black since that is the best pair of colors to get a person’s attention. Political campaigns can use yellow, orange and other colors that are better suited for getting voters’ attention to leverage the value of the candidate’s lawn sign.
When there are only a few candidates on the ballot and political campaigns’ aren’t competing against many others for voters to read their yard signs, red is a good color choice. Red is associated with power as in the “power tie.” This strong color presents a candidate as authoritative. Finally, red is associated with the Republican Party and conservatism more generally.
White creates a sense of space on a yard sign. On the other hand, particularly paired with black, white can feel sterile. To reduce printing costs, political campaigns often choose to order one color signs. To do so, campaigns use a dark color to outline the words on the sign creating white lettering. While white might not be the best color from a psychological perspective, the cost savings of using one spot color will more than make up for the negative effects.
Most importantly for Democratic candidates, blue is associated with the Democratic Party and Liberal values. Blue is also associated with calm and peace. It’s also the favorite color of most men. Republican candidates should avoid blue as the predominant color in their campaign lawn signs but blue is a good choice for Democrats.
While red, white and blue are our nations colors and it’s understandable that candidates would want to display their patriotism by using these colors on political lawn signs, they are ordinarily not the best option. There are cases when there are few candidates on the ballot that they will work but these colors still aren’t the best possible option. Political campaigns are best to choose contrasting colors. Choose a color that reflects a lot of light and couple it with a color that makes the copy on the yard sign easily read from the road.
“I don’t want my country back. I want my country forward”
“Up with the mild-mannered majority!”
“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends”
“I disagree with you, but I’m sure you mean well. Wanna grab a beer?”
“The end is not for a while”
“I understand that change takes time”
“I can promote my opinion without misrepresenting people who disagree with me”
“Obama: probably not trying to destroy America”
“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends”
“I disagree with you, but I’m sure you mean well. Wanna grab a beer?”
“More Cowbell”
The average campaign yard sign is about two feet wide and a foot and a half tall. The type of sign that you purchase is a contributing to the standard size of a sign. In general, fold over or cardboard lawn signs will be slightly wider than plastic bag for corrugated plastic yard signs since they need some extra width to staple down around the wire frame.
Campaign Trail Yard Signs carries the common sizes for each type of sign in addition to some larger signs if you are trying to stand out from the crowd or have a long time or office title:
Plastic Bag Signs26″ Wide x 16″ High
32″ Wide x 20″ High
36″ Wide x 14″ High
20″ Wide x 14″ High
24″ Wide x 18″ High
22″wide x 14″high
28″wide x 11″high
28″wide x 22″high
44″wide x 14″high
While larger signs particularly are going to stand out from the crowd of other signs, the traditional sizes are more economical. Another financial factor to signs are the number of colors to use on the sign. Check out the product page to see how varying the sign type, color, and size impacts the price, so you get both the features that you need at a price the campaign can afford.
What color should you choose for your political campaign yard sign? There isn’t much room for logos, pictures, and other information, so color is one of the major decisions when designing a yard sign.
Black is a poor sign background color
Black is a great text choice
Color psychology bonus: black is a menacing color but also conveys authority
White is a good background color
White is the most common text color
White paired with black looks stale
Color psychology bonus: white is associated with purity and innocence
Avoid patriotic colors since most yard signs are red, white and blue
Red is associated with the Republican Party
Color psychology bonus: red conveys warmth but also power as in ‘power tie’
Avoid patriotic colors since most yard signs are red, white and blue
Blue is associated with the Democratic Party
Color psychology bonus: blue is associated with calmness
Depending on the shade and brightness, green can be a good text or background color choice
Green is associated with the Green Party and also candidates who are interested in environmental issues
Color psychology bonus: green is connected to the earth
Yellow reflects the most visible light
Yellow is a great background color choice
Yellow is a poor text color
Color psychology bonus: yellow conveys cheeriness and brightness
Depending upon the shade, purple is both a good background color or text color
Color psychology bonus: purple is associated with royalty and also spirituality
In darker shades, brown is a good background color paired with white text or text color paired with a lighter background
Brown is an underused yard sign color
Color psychology bonus: brown is connected with the earth
Orange reflects a lot of visible light
Like yellow, it contrasts well with dark text colors
Orange is a good background color
Color psychology bonus: orange conveys excitement and momentum
Three keys to choosing the right color for your campaign’s yard sign are
An interesting trait about human perception is that when we view something that we’re unfamiliar with, the mind will try to make sense of it using concepts that we already know. This is why camouflage works in war and mimicry is powerful. How many times that we met someone that reminded us of someone else because of their appearance or voice and enjoyed their company on this basis alone?
In the case of yard signs, consider using a similar design as the predecessor. If the outgoing was well-liked and popular you will be using this effect to connect yourself with the previous elected official. Campaigns can use this psychological effect by investing in similar yard signs as the previous elected official since voters may associate your unfamiliar name and yard sign with the former officeholder.
Do you have any other tips for yard signs in open seats? Leave a comment below.
This less than 90 second video tests your awareness:
Did you catch everything in the video?
Campaign yard signs can be like the gorilla in the basketball court but they don’t have to be. Political campaigns can integrate political lawn signs into their whole outreach strategy to dramatically increase their impact. The simplest solution is to tell voters to be on the look out. For example, a campaign radio spot that highlights the campaign’s momentum might say highlight a few important endorsements but note that the most important endorsements come from the voters in the community, so keep an eye out for the candidate’s yard signs on the lawns of supporters.
When a campaign’s voter contact strategies work together you will increase the value of each of them including election signs.
