NEW YORK (AP) – When Zoran Mamdani made the historic and improbable run for mayor of New York City this summer, it was hard to miss his bright blue campaign sign with bold orange lettering.
From Queens to the Bronx, storefront windows and telephone poles featured “Zoran for New York City” signs that stood out more than the standard red, white, and blue campaign features. Many thought this lettering was an intentional reference to old-fashioned Bollywood posters, a subtle nod to Mamdani’s Indian heritage.
But Aneesh Boopathy, a Philadelphia-based graphic designer who worked on the visuals, said the campaign simply used bright primary colors to make bodegas, yellow cabs, hot dog vendors and other small businesses stand out from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The drop shadow effect and vintage comic book-like stylized font are meant to evoke the old-fashioned hand-painted signs that can still be seen in some areas, he said.
“Simply put, this is New York,” said Boopathy, who previously lived in New York and helped with past campaigns for Mamdani and the Queens chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
It was also the origin of trends.
Mamdani’s main opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, rebranded during the campaign. Democrats initially ran for mayor using a red, white, and blue color scheme and a decidedly plain font reminiscent of the bumper stickers used by President John F. Kennedy in 1960.
But after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary in June, Cuomo began running as an independent candidate with a new logo featuring a silhouette of the Statue of Liberty’s crown and a new color scheme of blue and orange, Mamdani’s colors as well as those of the Knicks and Mets.
Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, is the son of Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, a prominent Indian-American celebrity, and Mira Nair, a film director known for Hollywood films such as “Monsoon Wedding.”
David Schwitek, a professor of digital media and graphic design at Lehman College in the Bronx, said the campaign’s aesthetic is more than just stylistic.
“They are reminiscent of New York City’s working-class structure. Bodegas, taxis, halal carts, etc. not only sustain the city, but reflect its cultural richness,” he said.
The distinctly retro feel likely helped foster “positive associations of happier political times,” at least among Democratic voters, suggested Gavan Fitzsimmons, a business professor at Duke University who studies the influence of brands on voters and consumers.
“It has the feel of something from an earlier era, when politics was less divisive and the Democratic Party was probably more organized and more successful,” he said.
The branding was reminiscent of the distinctive campaign font that became the calling card of another young liberal New Yorker who achieved political fame, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said Richard Flanagan, a political science professor at the College of Staten Island.
Her Democratic posters for her stunning 2018 victory over U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley for a seat representing Queens and parts of the Bronx similarly depicted her traditional and working-class New York.
The brightly colored, upwardly slanted lettering recalled pre-war union designs, recalled Mexican “lucha libre” flyers, and especially incorporated the upside-down exclamation mark used in written Spanish.
Court Stroud, a marketing professor at New York University, said it’s difficult to quantify how much the campaign visuals contributed to Mamdani’s success, but they certainly made him recognizable and memorable in an initially crowded field of mayoral candidates.
“The playfulness of his campaign designs has created a brand that supporters want to wear and share,” he said. “By using visual design as a secret handshake, Mamdani’s team demonstrated how politics can feel real and community-driven.”
Campaign experts said it’s too early to tell whether Mamdani’s campaign design will ultimately have the same staying power nationally as Ocasio-Cortez’s distinctive look. Ocasio-Cortez’s distinctive look is now a staple of progressive candidate branding.
“It’s still rare for candidates to stray away from the tried-and-true red, white and blue,” said Lisa Burns, a media studies professor at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. “I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
The popularity of Mamdani’s designs was certainly felt during the New York mayoral campaign and helped inspire Unconventional viral campaign “Hot Girls for Zohran” goods, etc. Worn by model Emily Ratajkowski And other young celebrities.
Švitek said the key takeaway from Mamdani’s visual coup is that effective branding is not general or safe, but specific and intentional.
“In a sea of sanitized political messages, Mamdani’s visuals stand out because they mean something,” he says. “That’s the lesson.”
Good campaign design must still be true to the candidate, Bhoopathy added.
“The boldness and vibrancy here doesn’t work without candidates who are as energetic and vibrant as the city that raised them,” he said.
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