2020 has been a strange year, especially for students. Not only has the pandemic changed what normal means to many of us, but it is also an election year in which many of us can vote. For many college students, these are both new experiences. Many of us have never voted in a general election before. It is important that young people get out to vote. In fact, it is important that everyone who can vote does; this can be hard to communicate to people though. According to the United States Census Bureau, only 61.4 percent of citizens who were of voting-age reported having voted in the 2016 election. In a democracy, this is not enough. Everyone’s vote matters, but how do we make sure people know that?

Designers Can Make The World Better

The School of TAD Advanced Graphic Design class recently participated in a national Get Out the Vote campaign sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). In the campaign, there were two options for what kind of poster the students could design – one was the simple Get Out the Vote message poster, and the other was a Get Out the Women’s Vote theme. 2020 marks 100 years since women secured their right to vote in United States elections, so it’s a big commemorative year for equal rights among men and women. The rules of the design challenge were simple – all the designs had to be nonpartisan. There are no pro-Democrat or pro-Republican designs allowed; the students had to create designs meant to urge Americans to vote in the upcoming election no matter which method of voting they choose or which party they support. The right to vote is a privilege that every United States citizen gets, no matter which candidate they prefer, and this design campaign is meant to encourage all voters to use their voice and be heard by the politicians representing us.

Get Out The Vote

The election is on November 3rd this year and voting is your way of using your voice. Make sure to register to vote, if you haven’t done so already, tell everyone you know how important it is and do your part to get out the vote!

Every four years since 2000, AIGA has activated its community of designers across the U.S. and beyond to Get Out the Vote. The campaign is part of Design for Democracy, an AIGA initiative to increase civic participation through design.