Here’s my question: Do civic graphics have to be plain to have credibility with citizens? And here’s my gripe: Why are so many government posters ugly in design? While it’s heartening to see more attention being paid to the quality of design in the election process, there are many more op­portunities to widen the discussion on how design can en­hance and activate the interface between all of us and our governmental bodies.

To get a seasoned opinion on the larger issues of civic graphics, I called Brooklyn-based information designer Sylvia Harris. One of Harris’ passions is envisioning design powerful enough to motivate viewers to participate in democracy’s paper forms—ballots, cen­sus materials and the like—so she quickly warmed to the subject. “There’s a difference between plain and ugly,” Harris says. “And the point is not to make civic graphics plain or ugly: It’s to make them look like they have authority. Figuring out what that is, what’s meaningful in public, what in private, what works in different regions and with people of different ages requires testing the waters on a regular basis.”

THINKING LOCALLY
To test the waters in my own environment and think further about the relationship between civics and graphics, I decided to explore a political issue I care deeply about in Illinois: equal pay along gen­der lines. I was curious about what role graphic design played in spreading the word of the state’s recently strengthened watchdog presence—and what role graphics might play in the future.

Illinois passed its Equal Pay Act in 2003 and implemented it in 2004. With it, the state became one of only four—the others are Vermont, Maine and Wyoming—to have a law giving extra (and needed) muscle to the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963. In the case of Illinois, equal pay for equal work is now enforceable for any employee of a public or private organization employing four or more people. The state law expands coverage, by the governor’s office’s reckoning, to some 330,000 additional employees not pro­tected by the federal law’s reach. [1]

In 2004, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the state’s Depart­ment of Labor also began an awareness campaign so citizens would know the law existed and take advantage of it. As with other labor laws, the new law would be included in the hodgepodge com­pliance posters produced by the state and also employer graph­ics companies like G.Neil. These tend to resemble 19th-century newspaper layouts and are generously described as not conducive to reading. Additionally, the awareness campaign for the equal pay measure meant producing 50,000 posters solely advertising the Equal Pay Act; requiring these be posted in public and pri­vate human resources offices; putting them in subways and buses in Chicago; and creating TV, radio and newspaper public service announcements (PSAs). Today the posters are still in use in human resources offices at employers throughout the state.

IS IT GOOD DESIGN?
That’s the good news. The “yes, but …” part is the poster itself. Set in bland Times New Roman, “Equal Pay Is the Law” runs toward the bottom, along with some other information. Above these lines, and filling most of the poster, is the image—coins adding up to 71 cents, labeled “for her” in italics, and a dollar bill labeled “for him.” (The ratio of gender discrepancy in median earnings in Illi­nois in 2004 was 71 cents to the dollar.) I asked fellow School of the Art Institute faculty member Aly­son Beaton, a graphic designer, to critique the poster as she would a student’s. Like me, Beaton was less than impressed with the poster’s thrown-together look. She remarked, “The use of ital­ics in ‘for her’ and ‘for him’ is way too soft a message: Where is the impact? The designer might be using this font because it seems ‘legal,’ but the message is getting mixed up with that of an ambu­lance chaser ad.”

Beaton hit the nail on the head. In fact, Harris has found in her work that viewers generally prefer civic graphics not to look like common commercial graphics. For example, a government mailer must not resemble consumer junk mail. It’s the authority issue again. And the student-critique model Beaton and I used was ironically appropriate, too, since it turned out the Department of Labor poster had been designed by an unnamed and clearly inex­perienced intern. (Not that students or interns can’t do wonderful design. Age doesn’t matter, but acquired design skills do, espe­cially when spreading the word about an issue as important as equal pay.) It’s hard to argue with Beaton’s conclusion that “the remedial approach of the design of this poster” implies “as a state, we have not put a priority on this campaign.”

SO, IS IT WORKING?
The next question is how the poster is working. That’s hard to figure. When I asked the Department of Labor, of course the response was it’s working well. A spokesman cited the 266 official complaints filed since 2004. Short of a massive survey of state employees or funded focus groups, I kept investigating the old-fashioned way, by asking people … and—critic’s prerogative—by looking closely and speculating myself. Basic summary: While the poster looks amateurish, at least it’s legible and draws attention, unlike the crowded, state compliance poster required to be posted nearby. Shelly Booker, manager of Employment for the Art Insti­tute, points out that any use of money images or headlined citation of money amounts is a good draw with labor law postings.

Audience testing is one way for designers to tell if a work-in-progress conveys the kind of credibility needed to get view­ers to respond to its authority. Harris points out, “Most projects don’t have enough money for a testing phase, but when it exists, it’s well worth doing. You can ask people how they react—is the piece threatening? Taken seriously? That’s testable through focus groups.” This is something designers can push for, especially in government-funded projects.

Even though Illinois’ Equal Pay poster wasn’t focus-group tested, still—as graphics go—it’s a start … if a halting one. The poster matters, though; it’s the most persistent part of the aware­ness campaign. The PSAs ran only the summer of 2004. Ameri­can culture being what it is with respect to privacy and money, it’s not that easy to find out what individual salaries are around one’s workplace (under the Illinois law, though, employers must give wage scale information, if asked). And the necessity of earning a paycheck means it’s not easy for individual wage earners to make waves and take action against an employer.

Motivation is the key every step along the way when it comes to taking equal pay action. Graphics design is only part of what can fuel that motivation toward individual—and by extrapolation, societal—economic fairness. But, hey, it’s definitely a part of the solution. So, here’s a shocking idea for the State of Illinois Depart­ment of Labor: For the next Equal Pay Act awareness poster, hire a designer!

A KINDER CODA
Rather than signing off with a scold, though, I’ll close with a posi­tive example in the still relatively unexamined arena of civic graphics—one that could be a model of effective graphics, perhaps modest, but not ugly or plain. The City of Chicago’s Department of the Environment in recent years has successfully generated wel­coming graphics for its civic greening initiatives. An example is a postcard announcing the mayor’s 2006 Greenworks Awards.

The postcard was designed by Cyrene Greenwood, chief graphic artist for the city. Of her design approach, Greenwood says, “My goal was not only to publicize the awards but also to excite people and motivate them to participate in any future greening programs.” On the postcard’s cover, the fluid balance of photographs and assertive text, along with the gentle flow of white space, subtly evokes the pleasure of civic green space. The play of blue, green and white gives its usual scent of hope and springtime. Not fancy, but in its small way, powerfully carrying a large issue, this card’s blend of authority and sensuality invites citizens in.

[1] Press release from the Office of the Governor; May 11, 2003: “Governor gives women another reason to celebrate Mother’s Day”