An anti-Labour leaflet in a pro-Labour font

The leaflet pictured above landed on my doorstep in Peckham last week. It’s the most interesting piece of election literature I’ve received this year — not because of its words, but because of its graphic design.

If you read it closely, it appears to be an official communication from the Tories. The legally mandated imprint declares it to be ‘Promoted by Ian Sanderson on behalf of the Conservative Party, both of 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DP’ — and that would accord with its strongly anti-Ken Livingstone text.

If you don’t examine it closely, however, it appears to be an official communication from Labour. The highlighted details are red, and all the text is set in the Labour party’s favourite font, Neo Sans. In fact, it fits the national Labour style more closely than many leaflets from the Ken campaign: those often employ another sans serif font, Univers.