A site-specific mural ad for The Politician on a building in Götgatan, Stockholm, Sweden.
For the new political satire, streaming now on Netflix, uber-producer Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) captures the tribulations of a group of precocious Generation Z high schoolers. And it’s hard to watch it without drawing parallels to present realities.
Payton (Ben Platt) has known he’ll be president of the United States since he was 7. And the path to the White House is clear to him: Become student body president at Saint Sebastian High School. Go to Harvard. Make history. But of course, things get complicated. — cnet.com
For their worldwide campaign, Netflix uses a diverse set of colors, artwork and typography, allowing for target group-specific ads and posters – and site specific outdoor advertisements. Above, an all-blue combo is used on a façade in Sweden: the protagonist is looking at the sky, framed by lettering. Below, a candyfloss-pink billboard connects the show with an actual recent scandal.
The show logo uses Roslindale (DJR). The design is rooted in 19th century type, an era in type design that was re-appreciated in the 1970s. Maybe Roslindale was picked to evoke the 1970s, as a reference to a golden age for movies about politics, journalism and political scandals. The nested “the” in the logo lends the logo the authority of a newspaper masthead.
Playfair Display is used for headlines. Depending on context it is used plain or playful with alternating word sizes. Alternate Gothic is used in all caps for Payton’s campaign pinback buttons.
“Netflix appears to be trolling the University of Southern California over its role in the college admissions scandal with billboards for a new show that were placed near the school, according to a report Thursday.” — New York Post
2 Comments on “The Politician (Netflix)”
The diverse range of campaign artwork for The Politician comes with an equally diverse approach to typography. Headlines can be placed flush left or right, center aligned or with alternating font size. An alternate campaign image depicting the main characters on a throne, even brings a whole new typeface to the palette: the headline uses Minion. Maybe the designers figured that Playfair would look to fragile in this small size? In that case they could have stuck to the typographic palette by opting for Roslindale’s sturdier Text styles.
Thanks so much for posting this! Very cool to see this array of examples, especially that handpainted one you found in Stockholm!
I figured I would contribute a few I’ve collected, including photos from the premiere with a big 3D Roslindale backdrop (and plenty of pantsuits, apparently).
London bus wrapping, photo by Mathieu Triay
London bus wrap, side view. Photo by Mathieu Triay
The Politician premiere, as seen in Page Six