We redesigned the Socialist Party’s logo – a tomato thrown – into a proud and friendly symbol. The tomato now also functions as a punctuation mark within the typographic system of the party’s identity
inspiration During the Dutch national elections in 2005 the Socialist Party asked us to develop a new corporate identity and communication outlets to be used in their election campaign. We felt that SP’s growth from an opposition party to a party with a realistic and practical program required a new image. We redesigned the party’s previous logo – a thrown tomato – into a proud and friendly symbol. The Socialist Party tripled in size.
As part of the campaign artist Joep van Lieshout made the ‘soup express’, a mobile soup kitchen, turning the negative concept of throwing rotten tomatoes in protest into a positive action, feeding the people.
how it got done The NU SP (‘now SP’) poster shows the essence of the typographic system in four letters and a symbol, forming the basis of an extensive multimedia campaign, including websites, viral movies, commercials and merchandising.
client profile The Dutch Socialist Party (SP) has become one of the biggest political parties in the Netherlands. As a modern socialist party, it has attracted an ever larger electorate. The party seeks to build a society based on human dignity, equivalence and solidarity. To achieve this, the party is active both inside and outside Parliament.
That the campaign conveys a high degree of authenticity and at the same time sensibly maintains contact with the grassroots image of the party, is due to the way thonik has managed to preserve the balance between playful design and political seriousness. That must be the main reason for the resounding success of the campaign. – Bas Heijne as chairman Rotterdam Design Award committee