Trump’s ‘Never Surrender’ logo brands a new era of grievance politics

 June 12, 2024

Trump’s ‘Never Surrender’ logo brands a new era of grievance politics

Trump is losing in court. His campaign wants to make defeat a winning brand.

BY Hunter Schwarz

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has a new logo.

And while the overall design of this new secondary logo will look familiar to those who have seen the previous iteration, it also has a few visual differences that point to his campaign’s current messaging strategy.

There are three changes. This version of the logo swaps out its red, white, and blue colorway for black and white. It replaces Trump’s longtime “Make America Great Again!” slogan beneath his name with “Never Surrender!”—the slogan Trump’s campaign has used since he surrendered last August at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta to be booked on 13 felony charges and have his mugshot taken in connection to efforts to overturn 2020 election results in Georgia.

The new logo also uses the campaign’s pre-2024 font, Akzidenz-Grotesk Extended, rather than Gotham, which it switched to for the 2024 campaign. (Former President Barack Obama first popularized Gotham in politics when his campaign used it back in 2008.) The Trump campaign’s font usage seems to be consistently inconsistent: a $24 black-and-white Trump Never Surrender yard sign is written in Gotham, unlike the new logo.

The new logo appeared at the top of a fundraising email Monday, the same day Trump had a virtual interview with a New York City probation officer following his conviction last month in his New York hush money trial.

Trump’s ‘Never Surrender’ logo brands a new era of grievance politics | DeviceDaily.com

[Images: Trump 2024]

A new logo for a new era of grievance

While Trump’s graphic design legacy leaves much to be desired, it’s also a reminder that “good” design isn’t always the most effective. His underdesigned MAGA hat proved to be a highly effective piece of branding in his 2016 presidential campaign against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose campaign used a professionally designed visual identity.

Trump’s design might not win props from professional designers, but it does speak to his supporters, like in his fundraising email that used the new logo. “Would you vote for me if I’m jailed?” asked the email’s subject line. The body of the email, which was signed by Trump, called his conviction for falsifying business records “rigged” and falsely claimed his only crime was “putting the American people ahead of the communists, marxists [sic], and fascists that want to see our country destroyed.”

“I’ve been ARRESTED, I’ve had my MUGSHOT TAKEN, and now I’ve been WRONGFULLY CONVICTED IN A WITCH HUNT TRIAL,” the email read. “All because I fight for YOU instead of the CORRUPT DEEP STATE!”

Trump’s response to becoming the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime is defiance. His new logo visually matches that tone: It’s stark and uncompromising. It’s a new logo for Trump’s latest chapter of grievance politics; extending existing campaign visuals, like his mugshot, and messaging, like claims he’s being targeted in a “witch hunt,” into a key brand icon. To Trump, his conviction isn’t a source of humiliation, it’s evidence of a rigged system.

Trump’s ‘Never Surrender’ logo brands a new era of grievance politics | DeviceDaily.com

[Image: Trump 2024]

A new fundraising opportunity

It’s also a fundraising opportunity. Trump has been using his mugshot to sell merch, like $25 mugs and $36 T-shirts, since last August. Trump’s campaign is selling other “Never Surrender” items, like a $40 black-on-black MAGA hat with “Never Surrender” written on the side, and a $27 black-on-black tee.

Trump has used money raised by his campaign and super PACs to pay for his legal bills in the past. The fine print on Trump’s online campaign shop says 90% of contributions will go to his campaign accounts and a recount account, which is supposed to be spent on recount and other post-election efforts, with the remainder going to the Republican National Committee.

The new logo doesn’t appear to be part of a wider campaign rebrand as of now. Trump’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment, but his standard red, white, and blue “Make America Great Again!” logo remains on the top banner of his campaign website and both logos have been used interchangeably in fundraising emails since the new logo debuted.

Instead, the black-and-white “Never Surrender!” mark is a secondary logo that emphasizes what Trump seems intent on making one of the defining issues of the campaign: opposition to his criminal cases.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hunter Schwarz is Fast Company contributor who covers the intersection of design and advertising, branding, business, civics, fashion, fonts, packaging, politics, sports, and technology.. Hunter is the author of Yello, a newsletter about political persuasion 


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