Case study 04
Settlers of Leidos
A study on the Pollie Award-winning Settlers of Leidos Campaign I designed for LPAC, the political action committee of Leidos, utilizing AI in conjunction with traditional design layout skills to produce an impactful campaign that resulted in increased PAC membership and increased donor receipts.
At a glance
Overview
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01
Challenge
Create a fundraising campaign that would increase PAC participation while giving employees a reason to engage with the campaign beyond a traditional donation appeal.
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02
Approach
Turned the familiar world of Settlers of Catan into a campaign concept built around competition, humor, and participation.
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03
Execution
Developed the campaign identity, custom-feeling illustration system, email graphics, print cards, and poster, using AI-assisted imagery alongside traditional design and compositing techniques.
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04
Collaboration
Worked with the team and client to develop the concept, refine the messaging, and translate the approved direction into a cohesive campaign.
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05
Outcome
Generated $296,827 in new annual receipts, added 176 members, increased membership 24%, and earned three Pollie Awards.
- New annual receipts
- $296,827
- New members added
- 176
- Increase in membership year over year
- 24%
- Existing members increased their contributions
- 99
The idea
A board game becomes a fundraising campaign
Leidos PAC (LPAC) tasked Sagac Public Affairs to create an engaging campaign to raise funds for the 2025-2026 election cycle. They wanted something that was fun and that would spark group participation in addition to raising PAC funds. We presented a concept based around the board game Settlers of Catan. In consultation with the client, we built campaign language around the concepts of the “Largest Army” and “Longest Road” cards found within the game. LPAC manages the development of their own emails, so we were tasked with creating the copy for the email, banner images to use within the email campaign, print materials replicating the two cards, and a poster.
I developed the visuals for this campaign, utilizing the Adobe Firefly AI image tool within the Adobe Creative Suite to create illustrations that were incorporated into the designs. Crafting the right prompts took several iterations, but ultimately I was able to produce illustrations through photoshopping elements of several prompts that felt compatible with the artwork style of the game, while also incorporating the branding elements of LPAC and referencing elements of Washington, D.C. into the designs.
AI as a tool, not a replacement
Human layout, AI-assisted illustration
AI image generation has improved substantially in just a short time, but even with this early iteration of Firefly, I was able to save the client substantial time in comparison with crafting a series of custom illustrations, while still providing the visual impact and craftsmanship of a custom designed campaign that incorporated these AI elements with human layout and understanding. Utilizing AI as a tool in the designer’s toolbox rather than as a means of replacement or an adversary of the designer is an important skill that I continue to hone as AI becomes increasingly sophisticated in its abilities.
The team met for some initial ideation over a game of Catan. I then produced some initial concept art utilizing Grok. Following several rounds of prompts, I created feature images, adjusted figures in the foreground, created frame elements, and composited the imagery into initial and then final layouts.
Campaign results
Exceeded the stretch goal
This campaign helped LPAC exceed its fundraising stretch goal, resulting in $296,827 in new annual receipts. The PAC also added 176 members, a 24% increase in membership from the previous year, and resulted in 99 existing members increasing their contributions. LPAC was thrilled with the results of this campaign. Sagac Public Affairs was awarded 3 Pollie Awards by the American Association of Political Consultants for our work on this campaign: A Gold Pollie Award for Best Use of Email Fundraising, and two Silver Pollie Awards for Best Logo + Branding and Most Original/Innovative Collateral Material.
- 2026 Gold Pollie Award for Best Use of Email Fundraising
- 2026 Silver Pollie Award for Best Logo + Branding
- 2026 Silver Pollie Award for Most Original/Innovative Collateral Material
American Association of Political Consultants, 2026
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