Better design = more culturally responsive voter outreach

July 18, 2024

We recently wrapped up a research project focused on how visual design can help create more culturally responsive voter materials....

Speed up form design with our new InDesign template

March 25, 2022

Our new InDesign template makes it fast and easy to create print masters and accessible, fillable forms at the same time.

Cover: Creating accessible forms for print + PDF

Looking back and looking ahead

March 2, 2022

Highlights and lessons learned in 2021, and 2 tools we're excited to share with election offices in 2022.

What we learned in 2021

February 28, 2022

Updates on our research and other work in 2021 (and how we are carrying this work forward in 2022)!

54 things we did in 2021

February 25, 2022

Take a scroll through what we did this year.

Five reasons to learn about design in election administration!

December 10, 2021

Want to be an election designer? This is your chance to learn what it takes.

If a legal right is not readable, is it really a right?

October 29, 2021

Too often, good legal rights are obscured by legal text written for lawyers. That made us think: if the people who need this information can’t read and understand it, is it really a right?

Birthday reflections

September 28, 2021

As we celebrate our 8th birthday, we're looking back at 8 of our favorite projects.

Number 8 candle on top of a cartoon cake

Short stories from overseas voters

June 25, 2021

17 Americans living—and voting—abroad and their challenges figuring out how to vote from wherever they live.

Center for Civic Design Research Report - Updates from the front line of civic design research

Attention-grabbing style: typography to grab (and hold) your reader’s attention

April 15, 2021

Typography can help - or hurt - your desire to convey important information to voters. We reviewed the available research on 4 typography choices. Here's what we found about bold, underline, italics, and all caps.

Now is the time to update your forms

March 25, 2021

Improve forms and other notices to voters during the off-cycle by making them official yet friendly, highlighting time-sensitive information, and using plain language

3 strategies to improve vote-by-mail signature forms

January 27, 2021

3 strategies to simplify signature forms and create a more successful experience voting by mail.

2020, the year of decades

January 20, 2021

In a chaotic year, we designed envelopes voting by mail, and so much more.

What to do about results: set expectations with explanations

October 26, 2020

Communications tips to help voters understand election results reporting

Designing ballot cure forms that invite voters to act

October 22, 2020

What we learned from testing different styles of cure forms with voters.

Tips for the home stretch: Communicating with voters

October 20, 2020

3 tips for easy ways to answer voter questions: voting location maps, email auto-responses, drop box checklists

Helping voters make healthy choices

October 12, 2020

Election information plus guidance from public health experts helps voters make healthy voting choices.

An invitation to certainty, in an uncertain time

October 1, 2020

Communications tips for helping voters cure a problem with their mail-in or absentee ballot.

Designing restoration of rights information

August 17, 2020

Information about voting rights after prison is a key to returning citizens voting.

Language access helps with acculturation

April 27, 2020

Getting access to the ballot and being an informed voter takes more than translation.

Preparing to mail ballots

April 21, 2020

Design tips for making vote-by-mail envelopes U.S. Postal Service friendly.