Running with Purpose: Campaign Design for Jamie McLeod-Skinner – Studio Lever

CASE STUDY: DESIGN

Running with Purpose: Campaign Design for Jamie McLeod-Skinner

In the 2018 mid-term elections, I served as Creative Director for Jamie McLeod-Skinner in her campaign for the Oregon 2nd Congressional District.

In a nod to the rural demographics of the district – and to Jamie’s family cattle ranch – the campaign wanted to incorporate a literal “brand” in the logo. Using their initial sketches as a jumping-off point, I refined the brand, and incorporated it within a wordmark, using it as a graphic replacement for the hyphen in McLeod-Skinner’s last name.

From there, I created a kit of assets that the campaign could easily deliver to local printers, but could also print on their own equipment, to save money whenever possible. The kit also included digital templates to allow their comms team to quickly develop social media graphics without waiting for a designer’s help. For higher-touch assets, like merchandise, newspaper ads, and out-of-home billboards, I worked directly with the campaign manager to produce production-ready graphics.

While Jamie ultimately came up short in November, she cruised to victory in the primaries, and galvanized voters in a way that no Democrat in the Oregon 2nd district had been able to in decades.

[at_a_glance]

Stepping Into the Race

In the 2018 midterms, I joined Jamie McLeod-Skinner’s campaign for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District as Creative Director—shaping the visual identity for a bold, grassroots candidate running in one of the most conservative regions in the state.

Branding That Speaks Local

The campaign wanted a logo that felt rooted in place—something that would resonate with rural voters and reflect Jamie’s background growing up on a cattle ranch. They arrived with the idea of a literal cattle brand, and I used that as a launch point: refining the symbol and integrating it directly into the candidate’s name. The result was a wordmark where the brand icon replaced the hyphen in “McLeod-Skinner”—memorable, meaningful, and grounded in the region’s visual language.

A System Built for Scale

From there, I created a kit of assets designed to meet the unique demands of a fast-moving grassroots campaign. The system included ready-to-print files for local vendors, low-cost DIY versions for in-house production, and digital templates the comms team could use to quickly spin up social content. For more complex pieces—like merchandise, billboards, and newspaper ads—I worked directly with the campaign manager to deliver polished, production-ready files on tight timelines.

Impact Beyond the Outcome

Jamie ultimately fell short in the general election, but not before cruising to a win in the primary and energizing voters across the district. Her campaign pulled in support from communities that hadn’t seen competitive Democratic organizing in decades—and the brand helped carry that message with clarity and conviction.

[at_a_glance]

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