Queer in AI

Earlier this year I was contacted by a family friend with a unique design need. As a PhD student and neuroscientist this friend is also a part of Queer in AI (QiAI) – a non-profit organization whose mission…

…is to raise awareness of queer issues in AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning), foster a community of queer researchers and celebrate the work of queer scientists.

Telling stories that connect a brand with its audience is one of the most challenging parts of this work. And the fastest way to be a good story teller is to get to know as many different kinds of people as possible.

Naturally, I jumped at the chance to engage creatively with this specialized and growing community.

The LGBTQ+ community is diverse, dynamic, and multi-faceted. Add to that the demanding and competitive field of science and technology and you’ve got a very distinctive branding challenge in QiAI. I was eager to learn what obstacles the org was facing and what needs it had for building awareness, acceptance, and even membership.

These are early days in this process and, as everyone involved is a volunteer with demanding day jobs, we’ve been working through the org’s needs as time allows.

One of the first projects we undertook together was auditing the existing brand and performing some high level brand discovery, positioning, and exploration. This included sharing JLD’s brand survey, sketching out new brand positioning, and reviewing style boards.

From there we were able to identify some of the touchpoints that resonate with both the queer and AI/ML community. QiAI attends multiple conferences per year to build awareness and to advocate for queer scientists and their work. I was surprised to learn that stickers are a popular, and collectible piece of collateral at the events so our next project was redeveloping their sticker designs.

Through the stickers, JLD married aspects of the evolving QiAI brand with color, humor, and of course tech puns. Together, QiAI and JLD have had a lot of fun creating these hilarious and collectible handouts. And they’ve become extremely popular at the conferences too!

Next year our work continues with the website as a major priority. We’re also hoping to explore additional collateral projects such as apparel and merch, again in support of QiAI’s busy conference schedule. More to come!