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Capturing our LGBTQ+ community through polaroids for UAL's Pride campaign

Colourful Polaroid images scattered across white table
  • Written bySavvy Bader, Midweight Designer, UAL Creative
  • Published date 15 January 2024
Colourful Polaroid images scattered across white table
Scattered Polaroids, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography, Emma Martin, 2022 BA (Hons) Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Creative, UAL

Our Pride campaign is an opportunity to centre the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and demonstrate our allyship. Every June, UK Pride Month celebrates our LGBTQIA+ community, culminating at London Pride festival the first week in July. The 2023 Pride in London theme was ‘Never March Alone: Championing Trans Allyship.’

UAL has the highest level in the sector of LGBTQ+ representation among students and staff. The campaign design was made in collaboration with our LGBTQ+ community and ran throughout June.

The design process

Joe O’Brien, Communications Executive, briefed our Brand and Creative Services team to design the visual direction and campaign assets for Pride 2023. The aim of the campaign was to centre and celebrate our LGBTQ+ community, as well as work together to highlight wider representation.

With this year’s theme, ‘Never march alone,’ we knew collaboration had to be the heart of the campaign look and feel. The design concept is inspired by Polaroid photography – quick and accessible, they are an everyday, intimate approach to photography. Often kept as mementos, Polaroids are keepsakes of events, celebrations and expressions of kinship.

Pride Month is one of 2 'gold' standard campaigns currently at UAL, meaning it's high priority and requires a strong visual identity to bring the wide range of content together and make sure it feels cohesive. We briefed the Creative Services team to help create a visual campaign that centres on our LGBTQ+ community and the small details that make them, them. I'm really happy with the final result and know that the LGBTQ+ Staff Network were also thrilled with the outcome. The assets really feel celebratory and joyous whilst also dignified and respectful, a perfect balance to strike as we celebrate and also acknowledge the protest background of Pride. Big thanks to Savvy, Margarida and Miriana for being available on the day of the photography event to direct and help us get really fantastic images.”

— Joe O'Brien, Communications Executive, Communications and Brand, UAL
  • Workshop-01.jpg
    Pre-Pride event, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • 220523-LCC-Pride-Event-47.jpg
    UAL Pride photography workshop, 2023 | Photograph: Yana Kasa
  • Polaroids-01.jpg
    Polaroid wall, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • Workshop-02.jpg
    Polaroid wall, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • Polaroids-02.jpg
    Polaroid stack, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL

Working with recent graduate photographer Emma Martin, (2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL) we invited our LGBTQ+ community to a pre-Pride event. The event welcomed students and staff to join us in celebrating what pride means to each of us. Emma shot Polaroid portraits of event attendees, which we then used to create the campaign visuals.

Campaign in numbers

  • 75% of social media engagements and 68% of all impressions throughout June were Pride-related content
  • Social channel engagement rate: 6.3% (1-5% is considered good)
  • Overall Instagram engagement rate: 7.1% (overall for UAL content was 2.3%)
  • Tagged social media posts across all channels: 26
  • Posted 6 Pride-related stories in June, 4 of which used campaign creative
  • IG-mockups.png
    Instagram story, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • Homepage.png
    Homepage, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • Digi-screen.png
    Digital screen, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • Polaroids-04.jpg
    Scattered Polaroids, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • IG-mockups-03.png
    Instagram filter, Pride 2023 Campaign Instagram filter design, Imogen Fox, 2022 BA Graphic Communication Design with Creative computing, Central Saint Martins, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • IG-mockups2.png
    Instagram story, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL
  • Student-story.png
    Photographer interview, Pride 2023 Campaign Photography, Emma Martin, 2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL | Campaign design direction: Brand and Creative Services, UAL

Meet the design team

The Creative Services team is made up of UAL alumni, recent graduates and current students. We are one half of the Brand and Creative Services team and sit within the Communications and Brand department based at High Holborn. We also work with designers through Arts Temps, our university recruitment agency and jobs board, giving UAL students and alumni the opportunity to work within our team on temporary contracts.

Emma Martin she/her/hers
Polaroid photographer, Freelance (Arts Temps)
2022 BA Photography, London College of Communication, UAL

Stephanie Feather she/her/hers 
Head of Creative Services, Brand and Creative Services
2008 BA Graphic Design, Central Saint Martins , UAL

Daniela Di Martino she/her/hers
Senior Designer, Brand and Creative Services  
2021 MA Graphic Branding and Identity, London College of Communication, UAL

Savvy Bader she/her/hers 
Graphic Designer, Brand and Creative Services – Project Creative Lead
2018 MA Graphic Communication Design, Central Saint Martins, UAL

Miriana Greco she/her, they/them
Graphic Designer (Arts Temps), Brand and Creative Services – Campaign artworker
2020 BA Graphic and Media Design, London College of Communication, UAL

Rosie Stephenson she/her/hers
Junior Graphic Designer (Arts Temps), Brand and Creative Services – Concept Design
2022 BA Graphic Communication Design, Central Saint Martins, UAL

Margarida Peixoto she/her/hers
Junior Graphic Designer (Arts Temps), Brand and Creative Services – Campaign artworker
2019 PG Cert Design for Visual Communication, London College of Communication, UAL

Imogen Fox she/her/hers
Junior Graphic Designer (Arts Temps), Brand and Creative Services – Instagram filter design
2022 BA Graphic Communication Design (with Creative Computing), Central Saint Martins, UAL

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