'People are hungry for authenticity' - Catherine Connolly's head of campaign art on the key ingredient to connecting with voters

""I wanted to draw inspiration from kind of traditional Irish shopfronts, those kind of hand-painted signs that are such a big part of the visual heritage of Ireland," she said of the font design that became deeply synonymous with the Irish heritage messaging of the Connolly campaign. Vowing to prove that "heritage and modernity can co-exist", Ms Cassidy confessed she was eager to avoid the "posh and corporate" designs of every other election poster she had seen before."

"Another simple but effective artistic feature was the motif of gaeilgeoir Ms Connolly's initials - CC - often printed as pin badges worn by those canvassing for her nationwide which, Ms Cassidy said, really represented the "spirit of the campaign". Precious few designers around the world can say they directly helped to shape the outcome of a presidential election using art alone, but she is under no illusion that her work carries weight."

Catherine Connolly won a landslide presidency with just over 63% of the vote. A dedicated volunteer team handled every campaign detail, including art direction led by Anna Cassidy (26) from Meath. Cassidy based the font and visual identity on traditional Irish shopfronts and hand-painted signs to tie messaging to Irish heritage. The design sought to show that heritage and modernity can coexist and deliberately avoided posh, corporate aesthetics. A recurring motif used Ms Connolly's initials, CC, as pin badges representing the campaign spirit. The designer noted that few people can claim to shape an election outcome through art alone.

Read at Irish Independent