PITTSBURGH PRIDE

Overview

Pittsburgh Pride is organized by a consortium of local LGBTQ+ nonprofits, including TransYOUniting. This group took over Pittsburgh Pride in 2021 when the Delta Foundation disbanded. After the leadership changes, Pittsburgh Pride didn’t have a dedicated designer.

Without ongoing design support, the website faced several challenges:

Navigational inconsistency
Difficulty locating key actions (volunteer, vend, perform, etc)
Visual hierarchy issues
Mobile responsiveness
Inconsistent visual style

There was a bigger problem, however.

Broadly, many in the Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ community were unaware that a new group had taken over. Delta Foundation’s besmirched reputation remained. Many were unaware that Pittsburgh Pride was now run by trusted local nonprofits and featured black trans leadership at its forefront.

Pittsburgh Pride is one of the few pride parades in the nation that’s led by QBIPOC leadership. This is particularly noteworthy, as the national LGBTQ+ community strengthens our recognition of figures at the heart of Pride’s history, such as Marsha P. Johnson. Pittsburgh is also home to a vibrant and robust network of supportive nonprofits. We’re a city that deserves to be recognized for our tight-knit and empowered queer community.

Guiding Question

How might this website embody Pittsburgh’s unique LGBTQ+ community and illuminate the work of our leadership?

The Process

Comparative Analysis

We looked at the Pride websites for many major cities and evaluated each design. We concluded that we wanted to use a video produced last year for a video background (similar to LA Pride) and we wanted participatory action items prioritized on the homepage (similar to NYC’s Pride).
Site Inventory and New Site Map

The navigational structure of the former site proved significant challenges, making it more likely that visitors would miss crucial information or signup forms. Conducting a site inventory and creating a new site map, we reorganized navigation and prioritized action items leading up to the event.
Sketch it. Build it. Review.

After we determined the general flow of information, it was sketched out visually. Sifting through 100s of photos from 2023 Pride, we selected which ones would speak best to both context and visual identity. The website was built on Wordpress with Elementor and some custom code.