Should everybody vote? It’s an interesting question. Inherently, we would say ‘yes’. After all, voting is a right that we should all exercise. But I would postulate that it is far more important to become curious, informed, and socially aware before anything else. Voting would then follow as a natural byproduct of that education. It was with these questions in mind that I set about designing the “DON’T VOTE” poster. The most obvious message here is to sarcastically defend the behavior of people who do not vote. Why vote when there are so many more entertaining things to do? But of course, the design subtly contains the proper message of why one should vote, written in red. The goal in this design is to encourage the viewer, not to simply ‘go vote’, but to be an informed voter, which is far more important. Visually, I wanted the text to be loud and clear, with layouts and colors that convey an authoritarian emotion to the viewer. At the same time, I also wanted the visuals to quietly reference the American flag through usage of a constant striped arrangement. Lastly, I wanted the hidden message to be subtle enough to not be read immediately, yet obvious enough to be read upon second glance. I enjoy posters and designs that include a happy payoff.

JustinNegard-2016VotePoster