486 reasons to vote, visualized by American graphic designers

In case you need another reason.
In case you need another reason.
Image: AIGA/Shane Walsh [L], Agustin Garza [R]
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For many Americans, elections are spectator sports. Despite the huge numbers who tuned in to this week’s presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, historical data suggests that on Nov. 8, more than 40% of eligible voters will skip the polling stations and just watch the dramatic results unfold on TV.

To address America’s consistently dismal voter turn out, the graphic arts organization AIGA launched a poster campaign intended to wield “the power of design to motivate the American public to register and turn out to vote.” It asked its 26,000 professional and student members to create nonpartisan posters persuading readers to vote, that would be free for anyone to print and distribute.

Image for article titled 486 reasons to vote, visualized by American graphic designers
Image: Milton Glaser/AIGA

While the efficacy of the printed poster format is questionable in the age of memes, many of the resulting posters in the growing gallery (486 by the time of publication) show how compelling and memorable a well-visualized argument can be.

Image for article titled 486 reasons to vote, visualized by American graphic designers
Image: Jeanne Komp/AIGA Philadelphia
Stronger Than the Bullet
Stronger Than the Bullet
Image: Sarah Lownes/AIGA Central Pennsylvania
Voting = Freedom
Voting = Freedom
Image: Joel Katz/AIGA Philadelphia
Go Vote It’s a Piece of Cake.
Go Vote It’s a Piece of Cake.
Image: Tiffany St. Julien/AIGA Richmond
Vote
Vote
Image: Dana Arnett/AIGA Chicago

AIGA explains that the free posters can be useful for voter registration campaigns who can bolster their messaging through witty, edgy, campypassionate, or graphically arresting communication materials. Several posters also speak to US minority groups who might feel especially left out in the US elections, like this image targeted for Chinese-Americans.

Image for article titled 486 reasons to vote, visualized by American graphic designers
Image: Jenny Lam/AIGA Seattle

Based on a poster by LA-based designer Agustin Garza, AIGA also partnered with Spanish-language network Azteca to produce a 10-second PSA about voting, featuring Battlestar Galactica actor Edward James Olmos.

“The policies under discussion during this election make it imperative that this year [Latinos] take a more active role in the democratic process that will shape the future of their community and of the country at large,” explained Garza. More than half of eligible US Latinos abstained from voting in past US election cycles, according to a 2016 analysis by Pew.