Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung Campaign for local elections in Hesse

We make politics visible, understandable and directly relevant to young people.

The 60-page brochure is also used in school lessons.

Create closeness and demonstrate relevance.

Young people often perceive local politics as abstract. The campaign for the election in Hesse addresses precisely this issue with the aim of highlighting the direct impact of local decisions on people's everyday lives.

To this end, we developed the slogan "Closer than you think", which forms the core of the campaign. The slogan makes it clear that local elections and the decisions made in them are closer to the reality of voters' lives than is often assumed. They are in public spaces, education, mobility or leisure.

Campaign development with a clear content approach.

Based on the claim, we developed a comprehensive style guide that is based on the existing colour scheme of the Hessian State Agency for Civic Education and continues it in a modern, clear and target group-oriented manner. We deliberately chose an approachable design, visual language and tone in order to make political content accessible without simplifying it.

This visual and content-based approach runs through all measures – from social media to print products to the website subpage – and ensures a consistent, recognisable appearance.

We have further developed the existing colour scheme with striking colours.

Claims and imagery that catch the eye.

A minimalist but memorable icon set for the campaign.

Digital focus, complemented by a strong offline presence.

The communication focus is on social media. We designed the editorial plan and all posts for Instagram. We will implement all of the content over the project period from the end of September 2025 until election day on 15 March 2026.

Sharepics from the beginning to the end of the campaign.

Print and offline materials to complement the social media campaign.

We also developed numerous print and offline materials: three poster designs, a flyer and a 60-page brochure, also available in easy-to-read language. An accompanying subpage on the website brings all the materials together and makes them available for download in an accessible format. To directly address young people, HLZ sent packages with brochures and posters to schools, supplemented by merchandising items such as notepads.

The result is a consistent, cross-media campaign that creates proximity and makes the relevance of local elections tangible for young voters.

Wie war die Wahlbeteiligung?

Wir freuen uns, dass unsere Kampagne dazu beigetragen hatt, dass die Wahlbeteiligung bei den Hessischen Kommunalwahlen am 15. März gestiegen ist. Die Wahlbeteiligung lag bei 54,4 Prozent und war damit etwas höher als bei den Kommunalwahlen 2021 (50,4 Prozent). Mehr dazu beim Hessischen Statistischen Landesamt.