Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Here are the best tweets that came out of the Trump-Pence ticket’s new logo

The Donald Trump–Mike Pence ticket has a logo, and it is ... not safe for work?

Shortly after Trump announced the Indiana governor as his running mate, the Republican National Committee sent out a fundraising email with a new Trump-Pence letterhead. The logo: A Trump “T” penetrating a Pence “P” to form some kind of distorted American flag. See for yourself:

The logo, which the Trump-Pence campaign will presumably use until the general election in November, hasn’t found many fans among on the internet. Some suggested alternatives:

But even more enjoyably, the logo incited a lot of snark from the beautiful people of Twitter, bringing rise to the logo’s more, um, suggestive implications.

Here are some of the best zingers:

It’s really easy to make fun of logos

When Hillary Clinton came out with her logo last year, it was also met with plenty of criticism. Designers critiqued it for being too blocky, using unoriginal colors, and looking too corporate.

But logos, like Clinton’s and now the Trump-Pence one, are easy to pick apart, especially when people have predisposed opinions of the person the logo is representing. Paul Davies, a psychologist turned designer, told Vox’s Christophe Haubursin last year that he likened the response to the Clinton logo to “psychological transference”:

Everyone has opinions and expectations of the Clinton campaign; the logo gives a platform for those feelings to be represented visually. When that visual doesn’t align with people’s feelings, there’s a clash between perception and reality.

Once the Clinton logo is sufficiently associated with the campaign it represents, it will likely fade out of the public consciousness, Davies said.

We have all seemingly forgotten about Clinton’s logo over the past year. Maybe someday, years from now, we will manage to forget about the Trump-Pence one too.

For now, I will leave you with this interpretation of the Trump-Pence flag. (Warning: NSFW)


Hillary Clinton’s logo designer on making great logos

More in Politics

Podcasts
The Supreme Court abortion pills case, explainedThe Supreme Court abortion pills case, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

How Louisiana brought mifepristone back to SCOTUS.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Politics
Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expectedTrump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
Politics

As Trump heads to China, attention and resources are being shifted from Asia to yet another war in the Middle East.

By Joshua Keating
Politics
Are far-right politics just the new normal?Are far-right politics just the new normal?
Politics

Liberals are preparing for a longer war with right-wing populists than they once expected.

By Zack Beauchamp
The Logoff
Flavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA headFlavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA head
The Logoff

Why Marty Makary is out at the FDA, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Virginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymanderVirginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymander
Politics

Democrats just handed the Supreme Court’s Republicans a loaded weapon.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
Can Trump lower gas prices?Can Trump lower gas prices?
The Logoff

What suspending the gas tax would mean for you, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters