Our Story
We began with the idea that, as art and design faculty, our creative toolbox could help address the challenges faced by student voters. In 2018, we co-taught a studio course where students designed a voter engagement campaign for their peers. Since then, we have evolved into a creative research team that works year-round with campus, city and regional partners.
Creative Campus Voting Project Co-Leads,
Stephanie Rowden and Hannah Smotrich
Our unique contribution to the UM-Ann Arbor voter engagement community relies on the power of visual design and the vibrancy of creative play. You can read more about our approach to supporting student voters with art and design in Designing for Participation, an essay we wrote for the ALL IN Democracy Challenge Forbes channel.
Selected Recognition for CCVP's work:
U-M North Campus MLK Spirit Award for Institutional Change & Advocacy, 2024
SEGD/Society for Environmental Graphic Design Global Design Awards, 2021
City of Ann Arbor Proclamation, 2023
Election Center/The National Association of Election Officials, Stars and Stripes Award, 2023
US Department of Education Student Voter Toolkit, featured Example from the Field, 2024
Brennan Center for Justice, cited in report, Voting on Campus: Student-Centered Solutions to Build Election Resiliency, 2024
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Selected Press:
10 Campus Museums Shine a Spotlight on Democracy, New York Times
A recap before election day, Michigan Radio
Creative campus project helps U-M students navigate voting, WXYZ Detroit
Behavioral science insights used to create college voter spaces, increase U-M campus voter participation, U-M Michigan News
The Daily Heller: It’s Your Right. Use It or Lose It!, Print Mag: The Daily Heller
University of Michigan students shattered voting records in 2020, Click on Detroit
FAQ
How did the Creative Campus Voting Project (CCVP) get started?
CCVP was co-founded by associate professors at the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design, Stephanie Rowden and Hannah Smotrich.
In 2017, we noticed our campus had relatively low voter turnout rates in relation to registration rates at the time. This gap inspired us to co-create and co-teach a class during the 2018 midterms in which students designed materials for their peers to make voting more visible and less confusing. Our experience in 2018 revealed the potential of art and design to make voting more accessible to student voters and prompted the start of CCVP — now a year-round faculty research endeavor. With every major election cycle, we design and develop a range of creative projects to support student voting.
What do you want student voters to take from their experiences with your projects?
We want students to come away from a CCVP project thinking, “I got this!”
Our work is centered on creating welcoming and reassuring civic spaces and non-partisan voting materials explicitly designed for students — located on their campus, written in language tailored to them, and facilitated by their peers. By weaving voting into student life, we hope to make voting more accessible and transform a bureaucratic task into a celebratory, communal activity. We want our work to foster a sense of confidence in students about their ability to participate in democracy and equip them to become life-long voters.
How is your work impacting youth voter turnout?
That’s a great question! There are many factors and efforts that go into increasing student turnout. We do know that CCVP makes a meaningful impact on our campus.
In the 2020 and 2022 elections, the voting hubs we designed for the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus facilitated over 9,300 registrations and collected over 13,000 ballots. In 2020, nearly 90% of voting-eligible students on the U-M Ann Arbor campus registered to vote, and 78% cast their ballot on election day (NSLVE Report). We also know that, according to a report from Tufts University (CIRCLE), the state of Michigan had the highest youth voter turnout (37%) for the 2022 midterm election.
What is the role of student research assistants?
Working together with Stephanie and Hannah, students on the CCVP research team have the opportunity to apply the skills they’ve learned in the classroom to a meaningful real-world project.
Our student research team members make important contributions to CCVP projects. Given their perspective as students, our research assistants are key to what we call our “creative sounding board” — thinking with us about how to best deliver key information to their peers. They contribute their creative skills (drawing friendly illustrations or playful characters) and their research and writing skills (explaining the role of various offices on the ballot). Working with our team keeps us anchored in the student experience — and adds some fun to a lot of hard work!
Who are your partners? How does CCVP fit into the UMICH Votes Coalition?
Stephanie Rowden and Hannah Smotrich, with their student research team, comprise CCVP, and they have cultivated many strong partnerships that help make their work possible.
The Ann Arbor City Clerk has been a crucial partner–not only staffing and coordinating the satellite City Clerk offices on campus, but also ensuring that our projects are accurate, non-partisan and in compliance with all election laws. We have several key partners on the University of Michigan campus who, along with CCVP and the Ann Arbor City Clerk, are known as the “UMICH Votes Coalition.” These campus partners include: U-M Turn Up Turnout, the Ginsberg Center, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Duderstadt Center Gallery. We all benefit from the lively eco-system of civic engagement efforts on our campus.
Will CCVP expand to other university and college campuses?
No, not yet, but we would love other campuses across the country to benefit from our work!
Every campus will have their own needs, particularly in response to local election law and the nature of their student body, but we believe that our approach can be valuable to a range of colleges and universities looking to support student voters. As artists and designers, we work with a few core principles that others can follow: make it welcoming, clear, calm, reassuring, trustworthy — and delightful! Our hope and intention for the future is to “share our recipe” for everything CCVP does. If you’re interested in learning more, you can start by reading this essay, and, of course, feel free to get in touch!
Creative Campus Voting Project is part of the UMICH Votes Coalition. Together we work to expand access, educate, and engage student voters in the democratic process. Coalition partners include: the Ann Arbor City Clerk’s Office, U-M Turn Up Turnout, the Ginsberg Center, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Duderstadt Center Gallery. We are grateful for the many colleagues, students, and voting experts that inform and enrich this work.
Our work is supported by the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design,
University of Michigan Office of the Provost, and University of Michigan Office of Research.
Creative Campus Voting Project
Creative Campus Voting Project