Political Literature

I received a political brochure from a gentleman, presumably a democrat, whose running for some office in my district. Let me just say that it's a poor piece of political campaigning. I won't reveal the guy's name, but please take note of the design flaws I discuss below in case you're working on developing campaign literature for someone.

1) The brochure doesn't say what office they guy is running for. How am I supposed to even start considering the person presented in the brochure for an office when I don't know the office? How can I judge whether his experiences do indeed qualify him for office?

2) The picture on the front looks like it's 20 years old. Don't be cheap on this kind of thing. It's not worth it. Get a professional photographer to take your headshot. Or at least follow you to a campaign event to get an action shot.

3) The front of the brochure says "Welcome to Maryland." I've lived in Md. almost my entire life. I really don't need to be welcomed. I need to see what a candidate will do to improve it. I found this a bit presumptuous and almost condescending.

4) Make sure your literature matches with other campaign collateral. I actually new this guy was running for something, since I had seen a yard sign up a few days ago. Unfortunately, the two pieces of collateral don't match. The brochure I received today is red and white, while the yard sign I saw was blue and yellow (which appears to be a very popular color schemed for political materials). It might sound silly, but it goes a long way to integrate all your campaign materials. Consistency is key. Otherwise, you look unprofessional like this guy does.