Thread by @BostonGlobe

As Boston races toward a historic Nov. 2 mayoral election, the streets are awash in color.

The hues — hot pink for Annissa Essaibi George and warm purple for Michelle Wu — are an instant visual reminder that Boston is about to make history.

bostonglobe.com/2021/10/27/met…

The bright signs position Essaibi George and Wu within a growing tradition of women politicians and candidates of color who are rejecting traditional political styling in favor of punchy, bright logos that reflect their personalities.

bostonglobe.com/2021/10/27/met…

“Whoever is elected will be the first woman, the first person of color, and the first mother elected to the mayor’s office," said @Ahuntah of the @BLFF_org. "And it seems in line with all of that trailblazing that both women have branding that is outside the conventional norm.”

Red, white, and blue are the traditional colors of US campaigns, with the occasional green thrown in.

In recent years, women candidates and candidates of color have embraced less traditional color and logo schemes, emblematic of a new era in politics. bos.gl/TTluqWe

Candidates who don’t look like past political leaders wouldn’t want their signs to look that way either, experts said.

“It used to be women and people of color tried to fit more into the mold,” said @semerriam. "People are realizing there’s an asset in being visually different.”

When it came time to run for political office, Wu opted for purple, “a color that I thought reflected my personality, and that I liked,” she said.

It wasn’t an explicit nod to gender. But when she ran in 2013, gender was impossible to ignore, she said.

Essaibi George has been committed to bright pink for decades, often appearing in the shade that has become her signature.

Essaibi George acknowledged that it’s “not a ballet, delicate, pretty pink, it is a strong color” — one that “speaks to me as a candidate.”

The logos and branding also reflect the candidates' differing styles, design experts said.

Essaibi George’s branding has a “very traditional local election feel to it. So it really needs that pink to modernize it and give it a little bit of a flair," said @AshleighAxios.

Wu, by contrast, is “flipping the script a little bit. . . . It’s a call for people to participate,” Axios said.

In each case, “it speaks to how they’ll lead.”

Read more from @emmaplatoff: bostonglobe.com/2021/10/27/met…