Emerson College Pride Campaign 2021
Background
To many Emersonians, Emerson is where they were able to find their voice; to truly become their authentic selves. Emerson College has long been known as an LGBTQ+ leader, yet in recent years has dropped from #1 to #17 in the Princeton Review’s Most LGTBQ Friendly Schools. Additionally, the only campus-wide event that the College participates in is the Pride March in June. To reposition the College as an extremely Pride-focused school, as well as to create strong engagement and fundraising efforts for our alumni, the Office of Alumni Engagement launched a month-long Pride Campaign during the month of June filled with virtual events, fundraising drives, and ample opportunities for queer alumni, students, and faculty and staff (as well as allies) across the board to get involved.
The central component of the campaign was an incentivized fundraiser that launched on June 1, 2021 to benefit the Empower Fund (Annual Fund), in which donors received a limited edition Emerson Pride Pin.
Concept & Design
I wanted the central image of the Pride campaign to capture Emerson’s values of diversity and inclusion and all of its intersections. I created 68 unique characters to represent the Emersonian community, all celebrating each other and themselves.
For the pin designs, I created simplified skylines of each of the campus locations — Boston, LA, and the Netherlands — to signify Emerson pride while also using the LGBTQ+ pride flag colors.
