Journal of Deliberative Democracy

“The Journal of Deliberative Democracy (JDD), formerly the Journal of Public Deliberation, publishes articles that shape the course of scholarship on deliberative democracy. It is the forum for latest-thinking submissions from various theoretical and methodological traditions. 

Its companion piece, The Deliberative Democracy Digest, seeks to contribute to ongoing conversations about deliberative democracy and how it can reform political systems. It is a creative outlet for advocates, critics, scholars, and sceptics of deliberation to convey their thoughts to a wider readership.”

At a time when citizens are increasingly becoming polarized by the surplus of noise in the public sphere, encouraging open and informed conversations about political structures is more important than ever.

With this in mind, JDD aims to be the trusted platform for their target audience: academics, policy experts, members of the public sector, and advisors, among others. The Deliberative Democracy Digest, on the other hand, is a more approachable venture for the wider community who are interested in the topic and want to read further insights about it. 

One of the main challenges was ensuring that this accessibility was met—and that conversations about deliberative democracy would start among more people. JDD needed a modernized brand identity that would resonate with an evolving demographic seeking a safe space for such discussions.

JDD, as a primarily academic structure, ensures that its work approach is accessible and true to the integrity of accurate research. And as such, the brand strategy should reflect this.

The logo dynamically features two speech bubbles—signifying conversation—that form into the initials DD, which stands for “deliberative democracy.” It is meant to express inclusivity, structure, and unity.

The design direction intends to match JDD’s identity as a brand: clean, modern, and civil, but with a dynamism meant to express the diversity of insights and open conversations. It signifies “organized chaos,” and how the plurality of ideas fits in a highly polarized world.

Because its main contributions are articles, an emphasis on typesetting was required. Wechose font families that establish a credible image without being dated or intimidating—they had to be easy on the eyes and versatile enough to be used on print and digital media across varying densities of content. This ensures that reading—and digesting—would not be a tedious task for all kinds of audiences.