Lotería Cards
In the summer of 2023 I was comissioned by Veronica Vasquez to create assets for her campaign for Kern County’s Board of Supervisors for District 4. The campaign wanted local-inspired lotería cards for each of the zones represented by the candidate’s heritage (and my own!).
The Brief
The Campaign
The Kern County Supervisor for District 4 represents serveral parts of Kern County and the candidate herself focused on the working class individual whom she strongly related to. This campaign was personal and down to earth, focused on the things we all have in commmon, our daily struggles and challenges, and the community and shared history that brings us together.
Why Loteria?
Loterìa has been called “Mexican Bingo”. Instead of letters and numbers, the game is made up of images. And to win the game, it’s not about hearing the image, say “El Sol”, and find the corresponding one on your board. The person calling out the cards would say something like “A poor man’s coat” and you, as having a shared culture would know that it means the sun. It’s entirely possible to have all the right images, but miss the shared cultural cues. In this sense, it’s a very strong indicator of shared history, culture, and values- the very thing that prompted Veronica to run in the first place! She wanted to represent her people- to show them that not only was she one of them, she saw them for who they were, what they shared together, and she would fight to represent them well.
The cards
There are several different communities represented in District 4, and it was important to represent each visually in their own unique way.
Each lotería inspired images (cards) for each community the District 4 County Supervisor represent’s number corresponds to the last two digits of the zip code (except for Bakersfield, the four zip codes are represented by the number 4).
Arvin
McKittrick
Shafter
Lamont
A portion of Bakersfield
Delano
Wasco
Buttonwillow
McFarland
Stella Hills
The Direction
Vibrant illustrations depicting each community with the campaign logo in the upper right corner.
Inspiration
Traditional Loteria played throughout Mexico.
Print Deliverables
Final Card size for loteria cards is 20 inches by 32 inches at 300dpi. Two versions of each card, one in English and one in Spanish. Including 5 variable boards of cards. Apt for T-shirt printing and larger-format printing.
Digital Deliverables
Web-sized images for the cards and boards as free assets.
The Process
The campaign had some clear ideas and goals for the cards, we knew from the beginining that Wasco was a rose and that McFarland was a runner, but some cards were more ambiguous.
I provided a first round of sketches with colors, which we then narrowed down to find the right image and color combination.
Using one card, here was the process:
Bakersfield’s Journey
We knew that Bakersfield was going to be visually linked to the Bakersfield Sound. I suggested three options inspired by the original set of loteria cards:
classic guitar for the small selection of instruments on loteria cards, such as el violoncello
a singer in a Nudie Cohn suit after el musico
an embellished boot after la bota.
The cards had placeholder numbers and text as the final information and assets were in flux.
After some discussion and review, we chose the guitar to move forward.
Proofing
Once the image was selected and we discussed colors, I rendered it fully and presented it for last edits.
For the Bakersfield card, the campaign wanted to see a blue background, inspired by CSU Bakersfield’s colors of blue and gold.
After review, it was decided that the background would look better with a bright yellow instead of the blue.
Final
I presented the final image and recieved the campaign’s logo to add on the top left corner, keeping it consistent on all of the cards.
Some color backgrounds were repeated and the overal palette was limited in order to keep the collection looking cohesive and emulating the original set of Loteria cards.
The Collection
Presented in English and Spanish, two versions of each card were made.
Arvin
Known for it’s fields of beautiful native wildflowers, a California Poppy was chosen to represent this city.
Buttonwillow
The buttonwillow tree is a local native, and the iconic buttonwillow memorial was chosen as the image to represent this uincorporated community. Historically, the buttonwillow pictured was used as a local landmark and meeting place for the people who lived in the area.
Bakersfield
A guitar was chosen to represent the four zip codes within the city of Bakersfield that the county supervisor oversees.
Lamont
This card took some figuring out, but we knew from the begining that it would be focused on agriculture. Ultimately, instead of choosing a location or particular fruit, we went with the bounty of fruit grown in the area.
McFarland
The historic running team of 1987 was chosen as the inspiration to represent this area, but with the more recent uniform. After all, the candidate represents the youth of today, too!
Delano
A field worker was chosen for this city, as it was the place where the historic farm worker’s labor strike took place in the 1960’s.
Lost Hills
If you’ve ever driven through this unincorporated area, you know why the oil rig was selected (and if you haven’t driven through, there are SO MANY of them).
McKittrick
This unincorporated community is a oil industry hub, filled with oil rigs, derricks, and more. In order to not double icons, an oil derrick was selected.
Shafter
Veronica’s team asked the community what they thought was iconic in and about the city, and they told her: The Green Hotel.
Wasco
Not only does Wasco produce more than 50% of U.S. roses, it also holds a rose festival. A rose had to be what represented Wasco! The colors for this card tied directly to the campaign’s branded colors.
Loterìa Boards
In addition to the individual cards, I created several boards to go along with them, in English and Spanish, of course!
The End?
The campaign ended in 2024.
Since then, they’ve been reproduced once for a campaign event for a different candidate. This limited run is currently on sale throug the Bakersfield Museumf of Art gift shop (in person only).