Speak Your Mind

Every project comes to an agency with it’s own unique set of challenges. Speak Your Mind was certainly no different. Tom Blackmore (Sr. Account Executive) and Chris Obergfell (Sr. Art Director) have been with this project since the nascent stages when it was still being referred to by the code name of Project Joe. So we asked the agency Odd Couple to describe what it was like for them helping bring Joe to life.

Tom: When our friends at Torstar approached us to assist in building an online presence for the 2011 Ontario election, obviously I was thrilled. As you’ll recall from my oft-praised foray into Dashboard blogging (link here), I am the consummate political animal. I already spent a good amount of time talking shop, and now I’d have a forum. A very public forum. I like to think this idea had been envisioned with me in mind.

Chris: I will be the first to admit that I don’t really follow politics as closely as my friend Tom. I actually don’t really follow Canadian politics at all, so when Tom talks I usually don’t pay much attention. Aside from one argument over a George W. Bush biography on his coffee table and that Brian Mulroney head shot on his desk. So being involved in this project as Sr. Art Director I finally had to roll up my sleeves and jump into the political world.

Tom: That is true, Chris is not what you’d call the Engaged Voter. We briefly referred to him as the ‘lapsed’ voter until we realized he’s actually never voted. So for him this was entirely foreign subject matter. For me, this whole project has been an exercise in self-control. I had to work extra hard to control my thinly veiled partisanism and learn to embrace the Atkinsonian Principles within.

Chris: The countless meetings filled with political banter from both ends of the spectrum gave me the feeling that we were on to something. As I began design and branding for this project I was fuelled by all of the banter.

Tom: Speak Your Mind is a venue for everyone from every spectrum to come and learn about the issues driving this election and what the outcome could mean for them. Hopefully we can engage, inform and drive strong voter turnout at the polls. Now go and Speak Your Mind.