Campaign Colors in Wisconsin

Voters don't read your signs, they glance at them. In that glance, they'll remember a color before they remember a word.

Tony RuffiNov 1, 20268 min read

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This article covers how to pick campaign colors for a Wisconsin race and what the common colors say. It also covers how to keep signs easy to read and where your colors have to show up. By the end of this article, you'll have two or three colors chosen, tested and ready to hand to a sign shop.

How do you pick campaign colors for a Wisconsin race?

Pick two or three colors on purpose and use them the same way everywhere. Choose one main color, one dark color for words and one light color for the background. Then test them for how easy they are to read. Looks matter less than being seen and remembered.

Most first-time candidates start with the wrong question. They ask what color looks best, and the answer is usually the color they like. The better question is what color will a stranger remember after one pass down a road. That's the one you want.

What do the common campaign colors say to voters?

Each color carries a loose feeling, but the feeling is weak and changes from person to person. Treat the table as a starting point, not a rule. We pick a color because it is easy to read, fits the candidate and can be used the same way everywhere, not because a chart told us to.

These are common design habits, and none of them comes from a study we can point to. Your own town may tell a different story. A green that feels fresh in one place can look like a rival's sign in the next village. Look at what is already on the road in your district, then pick a color that isn't there.

Do you have to use red, white and blue?

No. Plenty of candidates use it, and it reads as familiar. The trouble is that familiar also means common. When every sign on a corner is red, white and blue, a voter's eye slides right over yours. If you keep those colors, make the shades and the layout your own, or add one color that no nearby sign has.

Here are three ways to stay patriotic and still look different:

1. Swap one color. Use a deep navy, a bright white and a warm gold, with red left out.
2. Change the proportions. Make one color take up most of the sign instead of splitting it three ways.
3. Use a color from your place. A lake, a field or a school color can give you a shade nobody else has, as long as it's easy to read.

Our logo article covers how a mark and a color set fit together, so you don't pick one without the other.

Which colors can a voter read from a moving car?

The ones with the biggest gap between the words and the background. Dark letters on a light sign, or white letters on a deep color, read well. Two mid-tone colors side by side blur together. Web guidelines ask for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text, and you can measure it for free.

A contrast ratio is a number that compares how light your text is to how light its background is. A higher number means it's easier to see. The W3C guideline, part of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, sets the 4.5 to 1 mark for web text, and the WebAIM checker will tell you your number in a few seconds. The same idea works on a sign. If the checker gives you a low number, the sign will look weak on a gray day.

Here is a test we use before any order:

1. Print it at the real size, or as near as you can.
2. Tape it up on a wall or a fence.
3. Walk back about as far as a car is from a sign at a stop.
4. Read the name out loud. If you can't, change the colors or make the letters bigger.
5. Do it again in the rain light. A gray day shows weak colors fast.

Our yard sign article covers sizes and placement, and it's worth reading before you lock the layout. Signs also have their own rules, so confirm what yours need with your filing officer, which is the clerk or office where you file your papers.

Where do your colors have to show up?

Everywhere a voter sees you, in the same way. A voter might see your sign on Monday, your mail on Wednesday and your website on Friday. If the colors are different each time, they won't connect the three. If they match, each piece makes the next one work harder.

Here is a short list of the places to check:

• Yard and road signs, which need the strongest contrast of all.
• Mailers and palm cards. Our mailers article covers how to match them to the rest.
• Your website, including buttons and links. Our campaign website article shows what belongs there.
• Video and photos, where the shirt you wear matters more than people think. Our headshots article covers how to dress for the camera.
• Social media, including the profile photo frame and the banner.

Want help picking colors and keeping them steady from signs to site? Our web design team and consultants work with candidates all over Wisconsin, up north included, at every level of the ballot. Your first call is free.

Write the exact color codes in one place. A color code is a short set of letters and numbers, like a name tag for a shade, that tells a printer or a web builder which color to use. Without it, one printer's blue will not match another's.

What did setting the look early do for one Assembly race?

It meant we never had to stop and fix the look. In 2024, new maps made a brand new district for the 87th Assembly seat, and Brent Jacobson ran in it. We built his brand identity and web presence early, in February 2024, and he won with 66% of the vote (case study). No color did that on its own. But a set look meant every sign, card and page looked like the same person.

We saw one campaign get this wrong. Its colors were green and white, a very specific green. Then its website used a teal, emerald green that looked nothing like it, and its yard signs and other printed pieces were red and blue. Nothing matched, so the whole campaign looked off brand and a little strange. Our advice is to keep it the same everywhere. Use the same colors on every piece, because that set of colors is your campaign.

The lesson works for any office. Decide the colors before the first order goes out, because reprinting signs is a cost you can skip.

Where do candidates go wrong with color?

They pick too many colors, pick colors that don't have enough contrast and change them halfway through. All three are cheap to fix on a screen and expensive to fix after the order. Here are the ones we see most:

• Too many colors. Four or five shades on one sign look busy, and none of them sticks.
• Weak contrast. Light gray on white or yellow on white vanishes from the road.
• A color that matches a rival. If the sign next door is also dark green, yours disappears.
• Colors that change by piece. The blue on the sign is not the blue on the mailer.
• Thin letters. Skinny fonts in a light color are hard to read at any distance.
• Choosing by mood alone. A color that feels right on your phone can fade on a printed sign.

If a design feels crowded, remove a color before you add a word. Our campaign budget article shows why it's cheaper to fix a sign in the design stage than after it's printed.

Your color choice in five steps

Block off one afternoon and do these five things in order. The whole job takes less time than a single sign order, and it saves you from reprints later.

1. Look at the road. Drive your district and note the colors that are already on signs.
2. Pick your main color from something that's not there, and that you can read from far away.
3. Add a dark color for words and a light one for the background.
4. Check the contrast with a free tool, then print it and do the walk-back test.
5. Write the color codes down and send the same sheet to your sign shop, your printer and your web builder.

If you'd like a second set of eyes before you order, we can help, from the first color to the files your printer needs. Our number is 715-314-3250, and the free first call is open to any candidate.

Fact-checked November 1, 2026 against the W3C contrast guidelines and the Bluejack case study for the 87th Assembly race.