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The color of your campaign logo is a very important part of planning your campaign.  And, some political candidates waste thousands of dollars by making purchases without considering the costs associated with their decisions.  To prevent wasting money on your political campaign, start with some basic planning.

Campaign logos can be one, two, three or full color.  No matter what you choose, the number of colors used will directly affect the cost of your campaign signs and other campaign supplies.

So how many colors should you use?  What do you want your campaign logo to look like?  How much money do you have to spend?  What percent of your budget will be used for purchasing print collateral, signs and other campaign supplies?  Answering these questions first provide guidelines to follow.

No matter what color or colors you pick, you’ll also be using white, as most printing is pressed on white substrate.  A substrate is the material you print on; in campaign sign printing, our substrates are usually poster board, corrugated plastic or polyethylene. 

Standard screen printing colors are your lowest cost option.  Most printers charge between $50 and $100 for color-match, so a standard color will save you some money.  As a side note, no printer can guarantee an exact color match.  If they do, they aren’t being straight with you.  Many printers usually run 100% accurate, but since color is a perception issue, color guarantees can’t happen.  That shouldn’t sway you from picking a set of colors, then using them in all your print work.  In fact, picking the right colors for your campaign is important and sticking to near-perfect color throughout all your campaign materials should be your goal.

Often first-time candidates want to “stand out” and try to do so by getting cutesy.  It doesn’t work.  Voters don’t respond to odd.  They like what’s seems comfortable; so use what feels comfortable, predictable but add a surprising twist – something interesting.  This of course is a fine line.  What’s in good taste to one person is in poor taste to another.  Be memorable without being strange – people are already suspect of anyone who wants to run for political office; don’t reinforce the stereotypes.

Stand out because you have clean design, good use of color and readable type.  Of course you won’t get that by using a cookie-cutter “design online” type campaign printer.  You need a high-quality logo, designed by someone who’s either worked in politics and knows what works, or a graphic artist who is capable of good, clean work.

Good one-color usage: Your artist can make a great looking one color logo by using text, reverse type (also known as knockout type) and a simple graphic element.  Use one-color printing when you’re screen printing and use full color when you’re off-set printing (brochures, post cards and door hangers).

Good two-color usage: Use one color as your main color and then use the second color as a supporting color.  Again, use a single, simple graphic element.

Remember, a political campaign rarely has any excuse to use three color screen printing.  You’re wasting money at that point.

To select your campaign colors, consult an experience political printing expert.  Look through a Pantone color chart or swatch book to pick the appropriate color.  And, utilize the standard colors of your screen printer.  This will ensure you’ll get the closest match of color in all your campaign printing and political materials.  If possible, print all your campaign materials with the same printer.  Screen printers generally use the same ink brand and colors consistently.  Fire Red will be Fire Red today or in two years; it will always look the same.

When choosing your campaign colors, be sensible, be creative but don’t let vanity or pride get in the way.  Your political campaign contributions are precious and you cannot afford to throw away money on extras.

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