Yesterday, the presidential race finally ended with John McCain’s concession speech and Barack Obama’s victory speech.  One thing that I noticed was the impact of design on those final speeches.  Win or lose, each candidate was going to use the same stage setup that they eventually used to make their speeches.  Politics aside, the setting in which Barack Obama made his speech was far superior from a design point of view.

The flag is wrinkled and we can almost never see it completely

Most TV networks had this shot. You can barely see the American flag.

John McCain had a single American flag set up behind him.  Given most network camera angles, the whole flag was rarely seen.  When the cameras closed in on McCain, all you could see were perhaps a couple of  red and white stripes.  The whole backdrop was wrinkled and poorly lit. The podium was small and basic.

And on to Obama…

The American flag appears in almost any camera angle

The American flags (and the country) metaphorically embrace the future President

Barack Obama’s stage was much more, well, presidential.  It was clearly designed to exude power.  For one thing, Obama has several flags behind him blowing in the wind.  These flags provided depth and interest through their subtle movement.  In aerial views, they framed the future president and the USA metaphorically embraced him using these flags.  Plus, it worked from any angle.  Obama also stood behind a large and broad podium, one that emphasized power and stability.

Do these things matter?  I don’t know how much, but I would argue that they do matter to a large degree.  Perception is everything.