Pride in Bristol app

Context

This project was created during a moment when queer community life in Bristol had disappeared almost overnight. Lockdowns removed the physical spaces where LGBTQ+ people usually find support, confidence and visibility, and online alternatives often felt unsafe or impersonal.

Instead of trying to replicate a Pride event, the project asked how Pride could still be felt, shared and experienced in Bristol when the community couldn’t gather — and how the city’s queer history and stories might create a sense of belonging during isolation.

Focus

The focus was on capturing the emotional and cultural significance of Pride and translating it into something people could engage with individually, through place rather than crowds. It explored how movement, memory and geography could help people reconnect with Pride as something lived in Bristol’s streets and histories, even when the usual celebration wasn’t possible.

Approach

I developed the concept through research into queer history, location-based storytelling and the lived importance of Pride in Bristol. I tested site-specific experiences, mapped ideas, and shaped a simple interaction model built around walking, discovery and visibility.

The prototype presented a virtual parade triggered by movement, alongside a map of queer stories and historical points across the city. A short video walkthrough demonstrated how these interactions might come together in practice.

Themes

• Pride as belonging

• Queer history connected to place

• Visibility and confidence

• Movement as participation

• Connection without exposure

• Digital tools as emotional support

Outcomes

The project produced a high-fidelity concept prototype showing how a geolocated Pride experience could work: walking to unlock parade audio, exploring LGBTQ+ history across Bristol, and using light visibility features like waving a virtual Pride flag.

It demonstrated how simple interactions grounded in place could preserve key elements of Pride: confidence, connection and visibility at a time when gathering wasn’t possible.

Reflection

The project strengthened my understanding of Pride as emotional infrastructure — a form of belonging and cultural memory rather than a single-day event. Working on a digital version of Pride showed me how movement and place can carry a sense of community, and how technology might quietly support queer experience when it’s handled with care.

Looking back in 2025

This project clarified my interest in location-based interaction, queer belonging and the role of place in shaping experience. It was a shift from my more provocative, critical projects into something more supportive, and it’s stayed with me.

Although it’s lived quietly in the background over the years, I’ve often returned to the concept. There’s potential in it, and I’m now looking to develop it further into something more fully realised.