Ugly Gerry

An ugly political process is ripping apart democracy in America. It’s called gerrymandering. It lets those in power redraw voting districts so they stay in power. It takes the voice away from voters. And it makes maps look downright ugly. Ugly Gerry is a font created to keep this problem visible. Every character was made from the shapes of real gerrymandered voting districts. People used the font to tweet messages at their politicians demanding change.

Concept and font by creatives Ben Doessel and James Lee, creative technology by HoneyWired.

PRESS

AWARDS

Creative Technology

Gerrymandering is so extreme that there’s now a district that looks like every letter of the alphabet. They really took great pains to choose/eliminate voters. Both parties do it. Graphic from the awesome folks at @representus. ⬆️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/XNDwD3Xa4k
— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) September 20, 2022

Analysis: How do you spell "gerrymandering is bad?" With a font made out of preposterous districts. https://t.co/65Df6tzJWu
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 3, 2019

"In #NH, the two Congressional districts are not gerrymandered, but the executive council, senate and house districts certainly are." @grayno2 https://t.co/Xk2s6beN5W

*Quote c/o "UglyGerry" - a font created by U.S. Congressional Districts#nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/USrLs3y5Q4
— NH Senate Democrats (@NHSenateDems) August 12, 2019

Gerrymandering undermines our democracy. That’s why I cosponsored the #ForThePeople Act, which would set up nonpartisan, independent redistrict commissions — aimed at stopping people in power from sabotaging your voice. pic.twitter.com/NL7XGYdoEY
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) August 12, 2019

3 of Ohio's districts made the cut for a new font Ugly Gerry. District 12 is "B", District 4 is "G" & District 10 is "R". We ???? that folks across the country detest gerrymandering as much as we do. Thanks to the creators for keeping it in the conversation. https://t.co/LQgeLJLTqe
— ACLU of Ohio (@acluohio) August 2, 2019

This is incredible: a font made from gerrymandered districts https://t.co/5JRGC7lUEB pic.twitter.com/0u1rU6wKuV
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) August 1, 2019

incredibly well done both technically and thematically

- dynamic meta data for summary cards
- location based representative detection
- painless Twitter integration via Tweet intent links https://t.co/HnBSJDLADu
— pete bing-gazer (@peterbinggeser) August 2, 2019

This is both depressing and amazing https://t.co/bp5xUfbids pic.twitter.com/tbglhsGBUD
— Jeff Singer (@DarthJeff90) August 1, 2019

Meet Gerry, the font created using the shapes of gerrymandered Congressional districts. Brilliant. Also, profoundly dispiriting. https://t.co/hIwwSwPTzw pic.twitter.com/7flDW2R5hn
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) August 1, 2019

Attending the launch of the Harvard Data Science Review. Second half of the day is on the mathematics of gerrymandering. Here’s a font made up of tortured districts. pic.twitter.com/J6w1nL1jPM
— Mark Hansen (@cocteau) October 25, 2019

today's best thing: there's a font made entirely out of maps of gerrymandered congressional districts at https://t.co/MACLU3Ykx0 pic.twitter.com/8r4wpH9k9s
— Sam Thielman (@samthielman) August 1, 2019

Hey @UglyGerry , here's the Constitution made appropriately illegible by you. https://t.co/pBul5L6R9A
— Michael A. Brodeur (@MBrodeur) August 2, 2019

There’s a font made from gerrymandered congressional districts...

And I just so happen to sit next to Leading Voting Rights Expert @AriBerman.

So, you know it had to happen ???????? pic.twitter.com/qmiLShnnB9
— ???? Mark Helenowski (@MarkHelenowski) August 1, 2019

So gerrymandering (one of my favourite words) now has its own font. Can't vouch for whether these are legit US congressional districts but... cool font. https://t.co/EbpkFXqcsr
— Kerry Campbell (@kerrywcampbell) August 27, 2019

A font created from gerrymandered districts: https://t.co/8tgCxGaEqp (via @Beschizza)

Genius!

I'm gonna install this and use it to format a copy of the constitution pic.twitter.com/hgzAamjX0p
— Clive Thompson (@pomeranian99) August 1, 2019

This can’t be real. https://t.co/lrB0Kwmuqo
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) August 1, 2019

The Gerrymandered Font: a typeface where every letter is a map of a different gerrymandered American district. When your Congressional districts are so tortured that they literally spell out the alphabet, your democracy might have a problem. https://t.co/WTPVDb8YEm
— Adam Conover (@adamconover) August 19, 2019

This is at once brilliant and depressing. https://t.co/utff0NFGeV
— Theo Francis (@theofrancis) August 5, 2019

From everyone here at the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

This Christmas we used @UglyGerry font to share awareness around the fight to end gerrymandering!#HappyHolidays pic.twitter.com/9lNlCDAucA
— NDRC (@DemRedistrict) December 25, 2019

Remember when someone created a readable font using gerrymandered districts? Let's rewrite history by putting an end to partisan gerrymandering. Voters deserve fair maps. #PassTheVRAA #RestoreTheVRA https://t.co/yt69gQJZ7x
— VT Sec. of State (@VermontSOS) December 24, 2019