Dusty Presents Better Campaign Website Than Larry

Larry Rhoden’s lazy campaign artists could take some graphic design advice from South Dakota’s next Governor, Dusty Johnson. Take a look at the banner image on his campaign website:

Compare that banner image with Rhoden’s update hat shot:

While the rolling clouds look like they are ready to gobble up the shrinking Larry, Dusty’s smiling face owns his banner, fills the space, and shows not one hint of the MS Paint-quality cut-and-paste of his opponent’s top graphic. The background is appropriately blurred to keep attention on the candidate, but check out the most clever graphic element of this banner image: the artists bring the flag back into focus by capturing the image within the right lens of Dusty’s eyeglasses, with Dusty’s kindly, energetic eye aimed right at the Stars and Stripes. Dusty’s Vision, Focused on America—beautiful!

Below the banner, where Rhoden’s website shows him standing around by himself and out of place in downtown Sioux Falls…

…, Dusty’s team places a ribbon of pix showing Dusty in context, surrounded by and engaged with other people:

Dusty shaking hands, Dusty shooting selfies, Dusty listening to folks wearing hats (including a lady in a cowgirl hat, a real ranch woman sending multiple subtexts, including that South Dakota is done with Cosplay Kristi), Dusty chatting up his interns outside a furniture store and receiving their applause (o.k., not every picture is a home run, but just keep scrolling), Dusty playing cards with the fam (adorable! All adorable!), Dusty working the ladies at the coffee shop… sure, Dusty’s pix are all staged, just like Larry’s, but they show him attending to other people, not strangely alone and isolated like Rhoden.

We can look forward to Dusty and Larry standing on stage together debating real differences in how they would govern South Dakota. But for now, on the marketing side, Dusty’s showing a superior grasp of how to promote his image.