The Staffroom Ballot — Workshop

ORIGINAL — for reference: flat black CTA box below the copy, same tone risk we just fixed in Look Forward

The Staffroom BallotIssue №1

Heritage Day, 24 September: braai broodjies, or tjops?

Every SA staffroom starts arguing about whose braai is happening where by early September — so we're making it official. Cast your vote. We'll report the results in next month's issue, before we pose Issue No. 2.

Our vote: braai broodjies, no contest. Cast your vote →

Curious how many days, hours, minutes are left? We built a live, ticking countdown clock. Watch it tick down →

H — Side-by-side vote cards (tally-style), gold accent on the leader, countdown demoted to a thin cream bar

The Staffroom BallotIssue №1

Heritage Day, 24 September: braai broodjies, or tjops?

Every SA staffroom starts arguing about whose braai is happening where by early September — so we're making it official. Cast your vote below — we'll report results in next month's issue.

Braai Broodjies

64%

Tjops

36%

Cast your vote →

Counting down — we built a live, ticking clock to Heritage Day. Watch it tick →

I — Literal ballot-box icon (charcoal contained to a 46px icon only), body copy explains the mechanic, countdown as a dashed gold-tone strip

The Staffroom BallotIssue №1

Heritage Day, 24 September: braai broodjies, or tjops?

Every SA staffroom starts arguing about whose braai is happening where by early September — so we're making it official.

Cast your vote → We'll report results in next month's issue, before we pose Issue No. 2. Our call: braai broodjies, no contest.

Curious how many days, hours, minutes are left? Watch the live countdown →

J — "Official ballot paper" motif — results shown as printed tally bars on cream stock, no black box at all; countdown becomes a small ink-pill

The Staffroom BallotIssue №1

Heritage Day, 24 September: braai broodjies, or tjops?

Every SA staffroom starts arguing about whose braai is happening where by early September — so we're making it official. Cast your vote — we'll report the tally in next month's issue.

Braai Broodjies

64%

Tjops

36%

Cast your vote →

⏱ Live countdown to Heritage Day →

Workshop notes — Staffroom Ballot

Original had a second, separate flat-black box directly under the copy (the countdown CTA) — same "too much black" issue we just fixed in Look Forward, but here there were actually TWO black-ish moments stacked (well, one — the vote link itself was just text). Worth the same fix pass.
H — makes the vote itself visual (two tally cards side by side, like a scoreboard) instead of a plain text link. The countdown shrinks to a one-line cream bar with a gold left-edge, no black at all.
I — most literal to "ballot" as a concept: a small ballot-box icon (the only charcoal in the whole card) sits next to explanatory copy. Feels like the most restrained/editorial option.
J — leans fully into "this is a printed ballot paper," with a tally-bar result graphic reading like a results page in a real newspaper. Countdown becomes a tiny rounded ink-pill instead of a box. No black anywhere except the pill.
Given your E preference on Look Forward (minimal black, used sparingly and only where it earns its place), H or J are the closest cousins — both put the vote result front and center as a real visual, and neither wastes a full-width dark box on the countdown CTA.