For past years, see the lawn sign roundups for 2007, 2009 (also 2009 websites), 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023 preliminary.
City Council At-Large
Guillermo Creamer
The sign above throws out the whole look and feel of the previous edition (shown below), but it also ditches the nightmarish slogan “Let’s Make the Woo About You,” so I’d call this a clear win. Mostly yellow, with red and blue, while still having a solid design, communicates a fresh, unconventional style. “Community | Equity | Opportunity” makes clear which political camp this candidate is a part of. Equal emphasis on the first and last names, sort of a necessity as his last name is more distinctive but people often refer to him by his first name. I don’t like either of these signs but they’re very professional. (In 2021 I called the sign below “my favorite of the year,” but I think as more candidates have adopted very professional and polished sign designs, it’s not the standout it once was.) No stars.
Maydee Morales
Purple and simple. Says “I am bold and I am not fussy about it.” Even making the first name larger and the last name smaller, as I would tend to expect, would be too fussy for this sign. The big question is whether the black outlines are a good idea. My instinct is to say no, but comparing some crude mockups maybe it’s actually the best option? No stars.
Kate Toomey
This color combination always reminds me of the Lakers, though her blue is both darker and less purple. These signs also remind me of bright sunshine overcoming a dark night. Kate’s public persona is not as sunny as it once was, but there’s no harm in sticking with that message. No stars.
Bill Coleman
At one time Bill was best known for getting giant American flags painted on fences and other public places, so in his case the flag is not just a symbol of America, but part of his brand. Fifty stars.
Donna Colorio
Colorio. Cool. Color. Soothing blues and sans serif goodness. (I used to think this was Helvetica, but it’s not, maybe ITC Avant Garde Gothic Paneuropean Bold?) The center stripe is desaturated, maintaining the mellow vibe. The tilted star over the “i” says “Somebody spent some time on this without being too fancy.” One star.
Domenica Perrone
“In the traditional RYB color model, the complementary color pairs are red–green, yellow–purple, and blue–orange.” Perrone embraces this color model, whereas Toomey goes with the “modern color theory” where the purple becomes dark blue. The light purple background and dark purple letters keep us grounded, the yellow is used sparingly to make “Vote!” pop and to underline things (theoretically highlighting the URL, but I doubt most people seeing this sign will be able to read that). The arrow and the exclamation point and the yellow add a bit of interest and energy around that large, central “PERRONE.” This sign knows why it exists and serves that purpose. One (secret) star.
Johanna Hampton-Dance
White, blue, and red, in that order. Vague about the office, an implied openness to running for other positions in the future. The sign is not really proportional to the signboard it’s painted on, but the white keeps that from seeming weird. One star.
Thu Nguyen
The shadow behind “Thu” keeps it from being boring without being slick. Using pink instead of red softens the sign a little. Thu has gained a reputation for being tough and uncompromising, but this is is a very gentle sign. The fans are going to vote Thu whatever the sign communicates, those who don’t follow politics or are on the fence are probably more likely to be persuaded by this gentle sign instead of one with a fist or something. No stars.
Joe Petty
I’ve complained about the awkwardness of this sign before, and how easy it would be to fix, but you know what? Whatever. This sign is perfect. Joe Petty is the Joe Biden of Worcester, elected because people were looking for an alternative to the incumbent, and he was available. When he ran unsuccessfully for state senate he made the mistake of seeming like he wanted it too much. For this Council re-election bid he’s making the right move by keeping these signs which say “This sign is good enough, I’ll show you respect by campaigning, but we’ll both be happier if I don’t try too hard.” Two stars.
Moe Bergman
Moe says this was inspired by a Kennedy/Johnson sign, perhaps the one below. Every election these signs seem too Halloween-y when people start putting them out in August, but by election day they look perfect. No stars.
Khrystian King
The first name in script, the last name slab serif. Someone serious about the job who doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Everyone whose last name is 4-6 letters long is so lucky, it’s no trouble to print it on the sign nice and big. Two stars.
City Council District 1
Jenny Pacillo
The heart, that’s what really leaps out, it’s terrific. It looks like something out of a video game or social media; one life, one like. There are many, many blue signs this year, possibly a sign of political polarization in this country. In this generally liberal city, candidates selecting new color schemes are ruling red right out. The bright orange on this sign is the complementary color of the dark blue, the very definition of a graphical element that “pops.”
Some candidates will give their first and last names equal weight, but most of them are going to emphasize one name, ideally something distinctive yet easy to pronounce. Here “Jenny” takes up more space than the rest of the text combined. Two stars.
Dave Peterson
He manages the minor league Bravehearts baseball team, and you see it all over this sign, the hat: the baseball, the slogan. Even the green reminds us of the Bravehearts logo (or baseball fields in general). This green-and-blue combo isn’t my favorite, but no established candidates are using it in this district or at-large, so it’s up for grabs. No stars.
City Council District 2
Robert Bilotta
Once again, it’s all about the color blue in 2023. The last name and the slogan provide a firm foundation. The angled, serifed, and italicized “Robert,” and the curved text above that add some life and fun. Then you notice the little heart in the “O.” There’s fun not only on top of the foundation, but fun within the foundation. No stars.
Candy Mero-Carlson
She’s the incumbent, she’s been in office for awhile, so she’s not afraid of the brick red offending anyone. Peterson’s sign says “baseball,” but this is the sign that looks like it could be for a little league team. One star.
City Council District 3
George Russell
Especially in this configuration, this sign is sort of a mess. One typeface I think, but stretched and bolded and tortured in all sorts of ways, without rhyme or reason. Move that URL out of the underline and to some inconspicuous spot at the bottom of the sign, you’re already 50% better. A mess but a relatable mess, I don’t think George is going to lose any votes with this sign. No stars.
Feanna Jattan-Singh
As far as the text goes, admirably minimal–rather than a huge first name and a tiny last name, why not omit the last name altogether? Very few of the candidates have photos on their signs. I don’t like photos on campaign signs, but most of us post photos online all the time, I can get how distributing a sign without a photo might feel like a missed opportunity. A photo can communicate things to a potential voter that we hope wouldn’t impact their vote, but which very well might. Like the candidate’s race, sex, age, and how photogenic they are. The minimal text is a nice contrast with the (relative) flashiness of the photo. No stars.
City Council District 4
Katia Norford
So much happening on this sign: the (nice) photo, a symbol, a QR code, the color red, a URL, English on one side and Spanish on the other. Hats off to whoever designed this one for somehow turning all these into something elegant. No stars.
Luis Ojeda
Without making his name too much larger than the other text, he draws extra attention to it with an underline and some stars. The yellow doesn’t pop like the orange on Jenny Pacillo’s sign, but there’s already a lot going on here, subtle colors are a good idea. I appreciate putting “Vote!” in light blue to mute it a bit. Two stars.
City Council District 5
Etel Haxhiaj
I empathize with anyone with an unwieldy last name. We should all be so lucky as Etel to have a distinctive and wieldy first name, the sign doesn’t shy away from “Haxhiaj” but it knows the “ETEL” is what you’re going to recognize. A green field and blue sky, either a symbol of progressivism, farming, or living on the planet earth. Not bad colors in any case. No stars.
Jose A. Rivera
Here’s how to balance red and yellow with a much darker blue. He used to be a boxer, so you have the gloves and the slogan. That explosion is great, no sign has the action of this sign. It’s fun to get in the habit of reading this sign too fast, so that for a moment you think the slogan is “I WILL FIGHT YOU”. Nine stars.
School Committee At-Large
Sue Mailman
Here’s a solution for the compound surname problem: just run the whole thing, really big. The festive orange at the top and the bottom is a total surprise. No stars.
Laura Clancey
I had a file corruption problem with the photo above, but I’m including it to show the great evolution of this lawn sign since the last revision, below. The unnecessary black outlines around the letters have been removed, increasing readability and decreasing clutter. Slow, deliberate improvement. A Worcester politician could have a much worse message. Two stars.
Maureen Binienda
Maximum impact here, the red of the sign, the wavy lines, script in two spots, the apple making clear this is a school race, the little credential under her last name. Even a check mark! A confrontational campaign, a confrontational sign. No stars.
Tracy Novick
Another bold sign for another bold candidate. The visibility of a highway sign, the colors of a school bus. Red is still up-for-grabs as a Worcester campaign color, but Novick owns yellow in recent years. No stars.
School Committee District A
Molly MCCullough
The #1 simplest sign of the year. You can read her name, it does the job, end of story. She uses a slightly different design on some of her larger signs, which is less boring but somehow charmless. No stars.
School Committee District B
Vanessa Zuleyma Alvarez is running unopposed and doesn’t have lawn signs.
School Committee District C
Dianna Biancheria
Very similar to McCullough’s, so how does it end up noticeably less readable? Both of them have ten-letter surnames, but Biancheria tries to make them bigger by making them taller, which really just makes the sign look worse. No stars.
Jermoh Kamara
The photo is small with a cluttered background, not great. In other respects this sign is much better than the previous version, shown below. Better spacing, better balance. No stars.
School Committee District D
Alejandro Guardiola
More of that clean, contemporary graphic design. The red part at the bottom is a visual surprise, especially as the margin above Worcester is so tiny. The rare sign that feels really organized, like “This part is the candidate name, this part is everything else.” No stars.
School Committee District E
Nelly Medina
Such a sunny sign: the classic red, white, and blue, but mostly white, with the red and blue desaturated. I can’t figure out why the “y” collides with the “N,” presumably someone reading this will clue me in. No stars.
Kathleen Roy
So many thin, blue lines. I like the use of limited fonts and making the candidate’s name big, I dislike most of the rest. The double outlines, the color gradient, all this is ugly. Does succeed in being an all-blue sign that won’t be mistaken for any of the other all-blue signs. 48 stars (I think).
School Committee District E
Jermaine Johnson
The same first-name-in-script idea as King’s sign, but this sign does a better job of it. This candidate is running unopposed and only has a few signs out there, but great job repurposing the old ones by covering “Vote November 2” with a “RE-ELECT” sticker. No stars.
