How Design Can Save Democracy
A great nation needs all kinds of heroes. Soldiers. Diplomats. Defense attorneys. Firemen. Graphic designers?
There is very little doubt that George W. Bush was elected President in large part thanks to a crappy ballot design. (Really, it’s hard to imagine a worse layout.) Following the 2000 election debacle, there was much talk of subpar ballots in use throughout the country. Since then, however, very little has been done to fix the problem.
Richard Grefé and Jessica Friedman Hewitt of AIGA (a design trade association) are working to educate the powers that be about what good ballot design might look like. Let’s hope someone’s paying attention.