Kasich Announces He’s Running for President; Scene Announces His Logo Sucks

John Kasich announced his candidacy for the 2016 Presidential election on Tuesday, and with that, the Republican field now outnumbers China’s Guangxi province.

If you’re a Republican and an Ohioan, you may be inclined to buy a Kasich yard sign or decal at some point over the next year. The campaign merch will probably feature a variation on the design to your right, which appears to be Kasich’s official logo.

Like almost all presidential logos, this one is red, white and blue. Otherwise there’s not much to say. But members of the Scene staff, polled this morning, seem to think that if the logo is any indication, the Kasich campaign will fall flat on its face.

(Experts consulted by Politico chimed in on bad campaign logos as well).  

Here’s how our staffers felt about the presidential artwork.

Lisa Beilstein, Euclid Media Human Resources Director: I find the logo uninspiring and boring, which probably means he will bring nothing of value to the Oval Office. His marketing team should be fired; my 8-year-old could have designed a more attractive logo.  

Eric Sandy, Scene Managing Editor: Couldn’t be any less engaging. What is that, bold Helvetica? Although I am pleased to see that the governor has taken to the trend of using wavy stripes of toothpaste for his imagery.

Andrew Zelman, Euclid Media CEO: I tried to figure out what the three red lines in Kasich’s logo are meant to symbolize. The only thing that makes sense is that there are also three red lines in the Ohio state flag. This is fitting and ironic considering that his campaign will start today in Columbus and will most likely end in two-plus weeks when he isn’t in the top 10 to qualify for the debate in Cleveland. He will then have to deal with the awkward situation of being at the Convention in Cleveland when the GOP nominates another candidate. Ohio – “The Heart of It All.” 

Christine Hahn, Scene Layout Editor / Graphic Designer: It’s a patriotic “Princess Cruises.” He did that to attract the same target market as a Princess Cruise: white, puffy and afraid of new things.

Sam Allard, Scene Staff Writer: Is it entirely unreasonable to suspect that Kasich’s computers didn’t have the font the designers used, and everything was converted to a universal sans-serif? I think it’s pretty reasonable. And anyway, as a populist candidate, Kasich is inadvertently communicating that you don’t need elite software to cook up important political images. I guess because he’s so unknown, the idea of KASICH in stark all-caps makes sense; but I say ditch the flag. The effect would then be that of a word scramble or contemporary art piece. BAM! KASICH! IN YOUR FACE! KASICH! Besides, unlike Hilary’s Fed-Exian H, the flag’s K isn’t integrated into the image in any sort of creative or significant way. Alternative option: Ditch KASICH altogether, add symmetrical swoops on the left side of the K, and put the image in the upper left hand corner. Go for broke and use a red/gold template instead of red/blue and start subliminally (or why not, overtly) using Avengers’ dialogue as campaign rhetoric.

Tyler Singleton, Scene Editorial Intern: Well, it looks like the men behind Kasich’s campaign, John McCain strategist John Weaver and advertiser Fred Davis, continued their storied history of putting symbols on the top of names. Star or flag, the truth remains the same men: you took the easy way out. Sure, this subdued approach may speak to conservative voters, but are these really the individuals you need to reach? Or, should you craft your campaign logo while considering the young, apathetic electorate that you allegedly blocked out of your presidential announcement event? Well, I’m not a political strategist or even an advertising aficionado but there are certainly better letters to throw on a flag than the letter “K” considering our nation’s checkered history with all things “K.” Mr. Kasich, may I suggest using the letter “D” instead? 

Vince Grzegorek, Scene Editor: The similarity between the wavy lines making up the flag portion of Kasich’s logo and the “approximately equal” sign could not be more appropriate. He’s a presidential candidate by full force of declaration and paperwork today, but in very few other real ways. You can point to some decent things that have happened in the ole Buckeye state under Kasich’s reign, but it’s hard to overlook the low points — most notably, Ohio’s deplorable record on education, including a charter school debacle overseen by the husband of Kasich’s presidential campaign manager (who resigned a few days ago). Ignoring all that, however, and getting back to the logo. Kasich and his team should have known that only one guy whose last name starts with K matters in Cleveland. That, of course, is Corey Kluber, and the single K in the logo does nothing to get us excited about the election. It merely reminds us how much we love KKKKKKKKKKluber.
 

From K. Kasich to Z. Zebra, the "2016 Republican Primary Pop-up Book" is 26 pages of alphabetic adventure! https://t.co/tixtlMn4C4

— Big Sexy Jeb! Lund (@Mobute) July 21, 2015

This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2015.