When Obama was elected as president, the US also delivered a graphic design mandate. Effective at noon yesterday, as the president took his oath, new websites rolled out, extending his campaign’s house-style and web savvy to whitehouse.gov and the all-new usaservice.org. Not only do these government sites actually look great, but they serve a renewed purpose. The new official site of The White House boasts a blog and comments area for legislation, becoming a platform for participation in a way only the web can facilitate. We can only hope this trend grows; irs.gov and ready.gov are in sore need of change.

One can only hope to see all federal touch-points take on this design system, applying the friendly-but-firm Gotham typeface with interstitial flourishes from Snell Roundhand for added splendor. The warm red and cool blue will wrap a 1099 or W-2 with warmth and optimism, a federal elections ballot with fine type and a smart layout will defend democracy with design, and TSA signage can actually guide and inform rather than confuse.

For comparison, the Internet Archive has all the past designs, the 90’s being the best.