Branding & Website Design for Sajid Javid’s Bid to Lead The UK’s Conservative Party

Theresa May’s announcement on May 24, 2019, that she would be stepping down from her role as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom set off a flurry of activity in British politics.

Within a matter of days, several Conservative politicians had put their names forward as potential successors to Ms. May, and the leadership election had begun in earnest.

Among them was Sajid Javid, the British Home Secretary and part of a new generation of Tory leaders that epitomizes modern Britain: with both traditional Conservative values and a modern outlook.

We helped “Team Saj” develop a new brand and visual identity for the leadership campaign, designing both his campaign’s logo and website.

The result was a brand identity & digital campaign toolkit that is at once modern, traditional, creative, and practical — much like the British people themselves.

Uniting Country and Party

In a British leadership election campaign, things happen fast — and it’s important to be prepared for long-term success from Day One. That’s why we designed Team Saj’s branding with an eye towards the future.

And while it ended up being Boris Johnson at No. 10 Downing Street, with Sajid Javid serving at Her Majesty’s Treasury as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we think that our take on the Conservatives’ brand would’ve held up in a General Election campaign.

What I love about this branding was the juxtaposition of the typefaces, with Meno Banner (the serif) lending a sense of traditionalism while Sofia conveys a very contemporary vibe. Together, they say “I’m a conservative for the future.”

Importantly, it wasn’t just a digital brand.

We made sure to think ahead to the print collateral that would’ve necessarily come into play in a longer-term campaign: billboards, buttons, and other merchandise.

Unfortunately, these amazing buttons were never printed. They’d have become collectors’ items, for sure.

Functional NationBuilder Website Design

When it came to NationBuilder Custom Theme design, we applied the Team Saj’s new branding to a functional, mobile-friendly web layout.

As is our standard, throughout the entire site content was editable without any assistance from a coder — empowering Team Saj and putting them squarely in the driver’s seat for their online strategy. 

Importantly, we had the site online just days after then-Prime Minster Theresa May’s resignation announcement, which allowed Mr. Javid to immediately make an impact on the leadership race. 

Conclusion

Now with two Conservative Party leadership campaigns under our belt, we’ve learned a lot about what works — and what doesn’t — in designing and deploying those campaigns online on tight timelines. 

Even though his campaign to become the leader of the Conservative Party was ultimately unsuccessful, we’re tremendously proud of our work for Sajid Javid. We’re particularly thankful that Mr. Javid and his team gave us the freedom to explore a new typographical direction within the framework of the Conservatives’ brand. Hopefully, it’s one that future Conservatives will revisit in years to come.