Lettering Works for Political Activism

Photos by Keith Glascock

Lettering Works made its way into Peoria’s St. Patrick’s Day parade this past weekend via custom signage for a city council campaign. According to City Council candidate Peter Kobak, “lettering helped convey the individual and personal nature” of the grassroots movement he’s started in Peoria. Kobak is “not just a name but a movement of people rallying around a better future for our City.” Because the campaign is centered around specific issues, it was essential to highlight these in a meaningful way that would attract attention and spark discussion. Incorporating hand lettering added a relatable, human touch to the designs that supporters of Kobak showed off as they marched for change. The St. Patrick’s Day parade provided an opportunity to engage with the community in a new way, increase visibility of the campaign, and share information to elicit a response.

Photo by Aimé DeLattre

Amid the sea of logos and names throughout the parade, Peter Kobak’s custom signs helped him and those marching with him stand out from the crowd. Peter values effective and intentional design. He believes that “it communicates an idea and a feeling.” The signage we created was both on brand - following his color scheme and font selections - and different from anything his campaign has put forth. In this application, lettering works to make political conversation more accessible and human. Our custom lettered signs blended intentional, handcrafted design and professionalism to build momentum around meaningful activism.

Learn more about Peter’s campaign at www.kobakforcouncil.com.

A Closer Look at the Designs:

Each of the six selected issues are represented by unique hand-lettered styles to give them their own personalities. We designed the top portion “Peter Kobak is for” to align with the pre-established brand guidelines for Kobak for Council. This clean top portion paired with the bold, custom lettering below allows each sign to make an impact on its own, while also working together as a series.

The designs were sketched out on paper, then rendered in black and white on an iPad Pro, and finally brought into Adobe Illustrator for coloring and formatting for print.

Do you have a cause that deserves attention and could use custom lettering? Send us a message!