Candidate: Former Ward 5 Councilmember Vincent Orange, running for D.C. Council chairman

Colors: Green, orange, and white

Graphic elements: Just simple type

Slogan: Vincent Orange for DC Chairman

Spotted: Columbia Road NW

Signspotter says: Orange’s is among the most straightforward of the signs out there this year, just five words in block type and not a single star or a swoosh or line to distract from them. But his signs don’t go quietly: the former councilmember naturally presents his last name in a color that can be loved only by Dutch soccer fans, Tropicana marketers and candidates named Orange.

The use of such a terrible color scheme is Orange’s birthright, but the bizarre title he uses for the job he seeks is not. None of the candidates seeking the District’s second-most important office can even agree on what to call it: rival Kwame Brown describes it as “Council Chair,” while Bryan Gurley, since bumped from the ballot, went with “Chairman Council” on signs still littered around town.

Orange’s solution feels like the worst of the bunch. Is he running to helm the Taxicab Commission? The Board of Elections & Ethics? The man—who unlike his namesake Vincent Gray, chose to use his given name instead of the faux-casual “Vince”—should extend a little more respect to the office he wants to hold. Would it be too much to put “D.C. Council Chairman” on his signs?

Photo by Mike Madden