GRVotes

Over the past eight years, Michigan residents have made their voices clear—they want to expand and enshrine voting rights in the state constitution. But these expansions in voting rights are happening in a time of rampant misinformation, creating confusion with residents about what these changes mean and how they work.

In Grand Rapids, the Clerk’s Office partnered with Well Design to make sure residents understood their rights and felt confident voting in these new ways.

Client

City of Grand Rapids

Services

Brand, Marketing

Creative Services

The New Look of Voting in GR

The new look for voting in GR was not only good looks, but intentionally focusing on how to build a campaign that is easy to spot, easy to read, and easy to comprehend for the people of Grand Rapids, no matter their ability levels.

The Pride of Voting Across 12 Languages!

On election day there is always an emphasis on "getting out the vote!" But nothing shows your pride in voting quite like the obligatory "I Voted" sticker. We worked with constituents across 12 languages to design I Voted stickers in 12 languages and made all of them into digital stickers available on Instagram for absentee voters.

Make Voting Easy to Understand

What the heck does your county treasurer do? Making voting easy is more than just knowing key dates and new voting laws, it's about making the whole process feel simple.

We do that in two ways: 1) Plain language ALWAYS and (2) make it bite sized.

From explaining new voting laws, new dates for early voting or voting registration, or who is on the ballot and what they do. We want to make sure everyone has the information they need to feel confident going into the booth or filling out their absentee ballot on their kitchen counter.

Marketing + Innovation

Beyond looks, let's change voting habits.

In 2020, when drop boxes were introduced during the pandemic, voter misinformation was rampant. The City Clerk's Office wanted us to help people understand this new type of voting, and make sure people felt safe and excited to try it out.

We started all the way at the beginning, with the design of the drop boxes themselves. We wanted them to (1) be highly visible, (2) have loud (but simple) information in English and Spanish about how to use the dropbox, and (3) encourage the pride that people have in voting for their favorite candidate.

From our years of working on elections, we know that people LOVE their “I Voted” stickers. For many, it’s part of their identity on that day—you were one of the people taking charge of this democracy. It’s not trivial. For people who vote, it’s core to how people want to be seen by their peers. But how can we do this for people who vote absentee?

What if we could make it more fun and more social? So, below the instructions, you’ll notice a set of QR codes on the front of the drop box. Scan these codes and they’ll take you directly to your Facebook or Instagram profile so that you can post an “I Voted” selfie.