Hundreds of thousands are spread across the country. What is the visual power (or lack thereof) of all these election posters?
Lots of blue. Some eye-catching red here and there. Some ecological green accents. And some orange for the nationalistic royal family feeling. No less than 400,000 have been distributed in the Netherlands. The election poster is back. Billboards are springing up everywhere, which are quickly colonised with posters by members of political parties. ‘They tell us: pay attention, we have to vote soon’, says graphic designer Renate Boere. For the first time, printed boards have also been placed: colourful chessboards with the poster of a political party in each section, in order of the list number. ‘A shame’, thinks Boere. ‘This deprives the supporters of their active role, and they can stick less creatively.’ Posters are also back as a platform for political parties. Boere: ‘Since 2002, parties, partly encouraged by Pim Fortuyn, have again paid a lot of attention to a good photo of the list leader. An intelligent idea that is specially designed is lacking: usually the starting point is a photo of the list leader.’ Historian Gerrit Voerman judges that there is no really good poster this year. ‘None of the slogans will stick. That was different in 1986, with ‘Let Lubbers finish his job. ‘ Or in 1977 with ‘Choose the prime minister’, then Joop den Uyl. Then the essence of the campaign was immediately clear. The VVD missed that opportunity.’ The VVD itself thinks differently about that: they think that a poster with only text attracts attention among all the portraits. Time for a character analysis of ten election posters by Volkskrant art editor Rutger Pontzen and graphic designer Renate Boere.
Marchje Bakker, Rutger Pontzen
Partij voor de Dieren
RP: Large, attractive photo of a fresh, modern woman, with text bars separate image bottom right. These are the standard ingredients of magazine covers. Great danger with this poster: zooming in does not always produce the desired effect. In this case, the face flattens out instead of becoming expressive. It does, however, accentuate the difference between eyes and mouth. Despite the smile, the gaze has a hard expression. Not a woman to bake sweet rolls with. It does fit in with Marianne Thieme’s activist attitude.
RB: This poster really stands out from the others. That’s because Marianne Thieme comes so close. It seems as if she copied this from GroenLinks: at the previous election, Femke Halsema had herself portrayed just as intimately. She wears a lot of makeup; she clearly wants to commit herself. Vote Marianne Thieme, this poster shouts. The logo doesn’t match that serious and slightly seductive look, because it reminds you of the Cheeses from La vache qui rit.
PVV
RP: Image combinations can have an unexpectedly suggestive effect. The surrealists already knew that. Take a bird above your head. You quickly think: watch out! Shit. The fact that Wilders remains standing is to emphasise his combative steadfastness. He is photographed from below. From a low perspective so that we look up at him. An old trick from the pioneering years of photography. Striking: the national tricolour, but no orange. In other words: for the Netherlands, not for the royal family. Provisional conclusion: Wilders wants to be king himself.
RB: The Dutch flag says it all: a reference to nationalism. The background is also white. It is speculation, but that could refer to a white Netherlands. Wilders cannot say that, but he can portray it that way. The voters do not look up to any of the leaders on the posters as much as they do to Wilders. Yet at the same time he is approachable: by laughing and putting his hand in his trouser pocket.
PvdA
RP: The issue with Diederik Samsomis: to wear a tie or not. He wore one during the last debates. Apparently, after long deliberations, it was decided not to wear a tie for the posters. To mask the confusion, a text was printed over the edge of Samson’s shirt. The layout looks a bit like a film poster. Coming soon to the cinema! Of course, Samson is no Hugh Grant with a lush head of hair. A solution was found for that too: by leaving out Samson’s spiky bathing cap hairstyle. It still looks like an egg with its cap chopped off.
RB: The PvdA succeeds best in telling a story with the poster. Samsom is depicted as a fresh Dutch boy; the colours are exactly the same as those on the cover of the Kameleon books. The type of person who would personally put his finger in a dike. The typically Dutch low horizon lets you look up at Samsom and also refers to a point on the horizon: the perspective to which Samsomons wants to lead.
D66
RP: At art school you learn that you never draw a pupil in an eye completely. The upper eyelid must partly cover it. Otherwise you get an unnatural, staring look. Alexander Pechtold is known (as is Elco Brinkman) for liking to look into the lens with such a staring look. It is impressive that this handicap has been turned to good use on the poster. From the darkness his mild face with piercing eyes looms up, in a Rembrandtesque grazing light. The art historian/former auctioneer knows his classics.
RB: ‘The contrast between the dark background and Pechtold’s light face is reminiscent of a painting by Rembrandt. Pechtold looks stately and distinguished, just like the people who had their portraits painted at the time, but somewhat tired. The black can also refer to the dramatic times in which we live, against which Pechtold stands out slightly. His facial expression is correct: not laughing too much, but looking sympathetic.’
VVD
RP: According to research, the most successful poster of these elections. No less than 90 thousand of them were distributed. Text poster in two, so-called complementary colours, orange and blue. Fits in with the party’s tradition: posters without the party leader on them (exceptions aside, such as Wiegel and Zalm). This year with no-nonsense statements in multiple flavours, such as ‘Get down to work instead of holding out your hand’ and ‘More punishment and less understanding for criminals’. These one-liners are also complementary, built up from opposites. Surprisingly consistent.
RB: The question is whether this campaign fits the spirit of the times. Such polarizing, harsh sentences. That was appropriate for the previous elections, when the VVD could oppose the government. But now we have just had a period of PVV-tolerated policy and people are less interested in such old statements. There is a greater need for nuance.
CDA
RP: Why are there so few portraits of smiling people in painting? Because a face with bared teeth becomes a grimace. A distorted face that seems more pained than relaxed. Sometimes it also applies to photos. You see the CDA party leader fighting against that distorted image. The poster has three strips of text. And all three are different in terms of typography and colour. Something like that does not promote the unity of the message. Certainly not if the party wants to radiate the slogan ‘Together we can do more’.
RB: Van Haersma Buma seems to be hiding in the leaves of trees behind him and behind the text. There is a lot of noise: the green, which refers to the farmers’ supporters of the CDA, and the text in four different fonts. As a result, Buma is being pushed aside. The text also does not match the image: it says together, but Buma is standing alone. The message of the CDA: we are willing to think along with this modest man in the government.
GroenLinks
RP: Just like the blue and orange of the VVD, the green and red of GroenLinks are complementary colours. And just like the VVD, the GroenLinks poster does not feature a photo of the party leader, JolandeSap. But that is where all similarities end. In contrast to the VVD, the layout is very narrowly framed. As if the text has been put under a magnifying glass. Another difference with the VVD: all letters in GroenLinks are capitals. Gives an official touch to the content. Not very playful, despite the fact that the layout is out of plumb.
RB: You really have to try hard to understand this poster. It seems like an unfortunate cutout of the logo, rather than an intellectual conveyance of a theme. When you start reading, you see that it is about a greener Netherlands, but you are not visually challenged to understand that. The letters are a candy red and bright green color – nothing natural, but referring to a harsh reality.
SP
RP: The only poster on which the party logo is not visible. That’s because someone is standing in front of it. Emile Roemer. Indirect message: this man is the party. Vote for him and you get the SP for free. Roemer is photographed in a striped anthracite grey suit, with a white collar. Not the outfit you associate with SP voters. The appearance of the great helmsman is therefore a form of hypercorrection. A former teacher who has worked his way up to potential statesman – and as a result has started to dress more importantly than any other statesman.
RB: This poster looks exactly like the one from 2006. Then Jan Marijnissen was in the foreground, now Emile Roemer. While Marijnissen looked a bit more informal, Roemer, who unlike his predecessor wears a tie, chooses a classic pose. You also look up at him, but because he is smiling, Roemer is also approachable. The poster tells: with this friendly Brabander, it is the SP’s turn to govern.
ChristenUnie
RP: ‘For a change’ is the phrase with which the ChristenUnie launches itself into the election. That is not what the image radiates. Rather that everything remains the same. The different gradations of blue give the photo an unchanging, icy image. Even Arie Slob’s eyes seem to have been tinted blue. In addition, the sharpness with which Slob is photographed contrasts strongly with the blurry people in the background. Not a shepherd among his people. Rather a pastor who looks friendly, but is strict.
RB: Proud and among the people, that is how Arie Slob had himself portrayed. In doing so, he shows that he wants to be there for the people. Behind Slob’s portrait, you can see a kind of aura. Perhaps a reference to the heavenly nature of the ChristenUnie? The text bar with ‘Voordeverandering’ in it runs diagonally upwards. That expresses movement and action, the decisiveness that many parties want to radiate. PvdA and GroenLinks also have such a slash.
SGP
RP: According to research the least attractive poster of this election. Also the least distributed: over 10 thousand. Only poster that is divided in two. The white text band keeps everything together. In itself well thought out. As a result the slogan ‘Deeds with words’ still gets maximum attention. The color bar at the bottom right is reminiscent of a proof from the graphic industry. Just testing whether the colors are right. Small frivolity that the party allows itself.
RB: The regular supporters learn about list number 9 via the poster. This way, the Reformed know where to look for their party on the ballot paper. Furthermore, this poster is poorly designed: with all kinds of bars, fonts, two slogans. But the contrast between the text and the portrait of Kees van der Staaij is particularly striking. Van der Staaij exudes uncertainty: he is not made up, his hair is getting thin. The text, ‘Deed with the Word’, is very strong.
