Political posters and their chaotic allure

Written by Rahma Yulitta | Read in Indonesian

As Indonesia is heading towards the campaign season, the streets are now adorned with campaign posters of legislative candidates endorsed by their parties to the public as the target voters.

The posters come in various styles, ranging from presenting the candidate in the party's uniform to introducing their visions and missions and promises. There are also posters that adopt the contemporary meme format with modern design that give off a more "youthful" vibe.

In the past, all posters looked rigid with the same template; so much so that the party’s colour and logo are the only differentiator.

But now, such an approach is no longer preferred as developments in technology, culture and the characteristics of each generation demand campaign poster designs to adapt to current trends.

This applies not only to the design, but also to the copywriting. Some examples are the wordplay "PeLaKor: Dirty Legislative Substitute", "Ready to Cartwheel for the People", "PKS: Very Cool Party" and "Fluttering the Wings of Diversity".

Puan Maharani’s campaign poster. (Source: Twitter/hipohan)

That's why it comes as no surprise that many campaign posters on social media look more relaxed with a meme style to attract young people to be more aware of and not be too indifferent to politics.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) said that 60% of Indonesian voters in the 2024 general elections (Pemilu) are dominated by young people, namely those aged 17-39 years. Unfortunately, there are still many young voters who think that politics is not important.

Padjadjaran University Communications Lecturer Kunto Adi Wibowo said that a more impactful and complex design is needed to get the attention of the apolitical and pessimistic.

Volume over design

In 2019, Kunto and his team conducted research related to political props (posters, banners, billboards, seeking to find out people's interest in campaign posters through the question, "Which do you prefer, props size or volume?"

Most of the respondents chose volume. This means that even with a smaller size, if the posters, banners, or billboards are displayed along the road, they can get more public attention.

The large number of banners displayed in many places not only made the design more familiar to the public, but also demonstrated one quality of the candidate or party: rich.

"Many of our voters use mental shortcuts or heuristics that ‘I will vote for a rich leader’; why? Because they believe that when the candidate takes office, they will not engage in corruption,” Kunto explained.

Then what about the design? It is certainly no less important than the volume, but the design is more or less offset by the volume. Kunto said it would be useless if the poster design is well-made, but the volume is limited.

This of course will narrow the segmentation of the candidate. This is why volume becomes more important than design.

Design selection is also still a tricky thing. Kunto mentioned a poster showing the candidate’s image upside-down. He said it was a smart move to get people's attention. But the question is, is that the ultimate goal?

Legislative candidate poster with a funny concept. (Source: Twitter/gesgestay)

Aimed at highlighting the candidate's persona

Every design has a purpose, as is the case with the design of campaign posters which aims at "selling" the candidates’ character to target voters. People who feel that politics is not important are more or less too lazy to think about the party's vision and mission, programmes and platforms.

That is why they will be more interested in the quality of candidates nominated by their parties. The character of a candidate is the main feature that is displayed or represented in a visual form. For example, a candidate who is presented wearing a turban means that he is a religious person.

Interestingly, this is a symptom of global political communications, i.e. a personalisation of politics. It means that candidates or parties approach target voters in a more personal way.

This was confirmed by Wulan, a graphic designer for the Gerindra party who has been in the field since late 2018. Wulan said the main characteristic of campaign props design is highlighting the persona of the candidates.

“The design is adjusted to the characteristics of the candidates and the target voters. We also have to see what is currently happening in order to re-adjust the design concept," she said.

Kunto said the public is better at judging people compared to assessing the abstract nature of political parties. This is what makes the visualisation of candidates’ persona important. He added, "In other words, if you want to assess what party A is like, just assess the chairman’s character."

Campaign design paints candidates using a more personal approach, not too party-oriented and shows the selling points of each individual. This is where the challenge lies: to show these aspects in a unique and different way from their competitors through visuals.

So, is the goal just to get attention?

In order to have a proper packaging, concept is one of the most important aspects before making a design. Wulan said the competition she faced did not only come from rival parties, but also from within.

Making a concept also takes quite a long time. "It could start from the year before, because we need to make a mapping first. We have to know voters’ age and data, who are popular in certain areas; so we have to do research from the beginning."

With the concept packaged in such a way, is it enough just to get attention?

Kunto explained, "Of course, a political campaign is more than this [design]; there should be a call to action. If they want their target to find more information about the candidates, can they find it in the design?”

"So, the debate doesn't just stop at design. If the design is okay and able to garner attention, well that's good. But then what? In my opinion, that is our political task today. If, in terms of design, personalisation, unique ideas are presented, in my opinion it will help pique the curiosity of young people or voters about politics or candidates," he concluded.