PrideReads: Branding an Exciting New Literary Collaboration for Indianapolis’s LGBTQ+ Community

PrideReads is a joint initiative of Indy Pride and Tomorrow Bookstore, bringing Indianapolis's LGBTQ+ community together around queer literature in a welcoming, independent-bookstore setting. I conceived and designed the full visual identity for the program: a sub-brand that lives within the Indy Pride design system while carving out its own bold, expressive character.

The identity leans into the visual grammar of classic literary culture—bookmarks, bold typography, crinkled paper textures—then cranks the energy up with a bright and saturated palette and maximalist type treatments that feel as joyful and unapologetic as the books it celebrates. Each monthly meeting gets its own original poster, which I design to evoke the world of that session's title: the San Francisco skyline at golden hour for Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, a single lit chair in deep shadow for James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. The posters work as promotional material and as artifacts in their own right.

Designs extend across both digital and print contexts, including take-away bookmarks for participants and promotional assets for social and web. The bookmark series doubles as a small act of advocacy, carrying the program's "reading is fundamental" tagline into the wider world, one meeting at a time.