Bee Nguyen for GA House District 89

In 2017, after Stacey Abrams announced her bid for governor, Bee Nguyen entered the special election for House District 89, Abrams’ former seat. A first-time candidate, Bee’s background was in nonprofit, advocacy, and policy. Since 2009 she had been the Executive Director of Athena’s Warehouse, the nonprofit she founded to support and empower teen girls from under-resourced communities; she also had a previous stint at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

The branding was inspired by Barbara Kruger and the Guerrilla Girls’ extensive use of the typeface Futura: bold, future-forward, feminist, and unapologetic. I omitted her last name (which can be difficult to spell or pronounce) from the logo so that her unusual first name — set in large, impactful letters — would make an impression.

For this grassroots, people-powered campaign, I also wanted to infuse some personality into the branding. We went with a bright, cheerful blue and used the tagline “Yes Bee Can!” as a nod to former President Barack Obama’s iconic 2008 campaign. During community fundraisers at supporters’ homes, we set up photo booths with fun props that I printed, cut, and assembled myself.

In a race of four Democrats, Bee and Sachin Varghese earned 39.7% and 34% of the vote respectively, advancing to a competitive run-off election in December. Bee won with 52.4% of the vote, making history as the first Vietnamese American person and first Asian American Democratic woman elected to the Georgia legislature. She would go on to win her re-elections in 2018 and 2020, ending her tenure in 2022 to run for Georgia Secretary of State.