ABSTRACT

This article presents the findings of an analysis on a sample of three 2019 South African election posters. Posters that feature the party leader from the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and the “largest of the small parties” the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are analysed to provide insight into the manner in which the posters are designed to appeal to the voting public through the design of their textual and visual elements. The elements analysed are the representation of the leader, the party logos and colours used, as well as the textual content and fonts selected for each poster. The interpretation is supported by positioning the elements within their historical and cultural bases and referencing political communication research. The analysis finds that while the choice to foreground the party leader on the posters is similar between the three parties, their posters also show significant differences with regard to the size and positioning of each leaders’ image, their nonverbal cues and clothing. Such differences, coupled with differences in the use of colour, logo design and the choice of typography and slogans results in three distinct identities which I have named President, Preacher and Populist.

摘要

本文介绍了对三张 2019 年南非选举海报样本的分析结果。对以执政的非洲人国民大会 (ANC)、反对派民主联盟 (DA) 和“最大的小党派”经济自由斗士 (EFF) 的党领袖为特色的海报进行了分析，以深入了解海报旨在通过其文字和视觉元素的设计来吸引投票公众。分析的元素包括领导人的形象、使用的党徽和颜色，以及为每张海报选择的文字内容和字体。通过将元素定位在其历史和文化基础内并参考政治传播研究来支持这种解释。分析发现，虽然三个政党在海报上突出政党领袖的选择相似，但他们的海报在每个领袖形象的大小和定位、非语言暗示和服装方面也表现出显着差异。这种差异，再加上颜色使用、标志设计以及排版和口号的选择上的差异，产生了三种不同的身份，我将其命名为总统、传教士和民粹主义者。