September 2021
Transport for London: Pride 2021
Design & visual arts
Roundel created with Marc Thompson for Transport for London’s 2021 Pride campaign.
TFL commissioned five prominent members of London’s LGBT+ community to design Pride roundels for 2021; installed across the Tube network to celebrate London's LGBT+ community.
A symbol of London for more than 100 years, the roundels aim to spread messages of love, support, compassion and hope, diversity, and unity on the public transport network through the medium of design.
Each location was specially chosen by the creators to best reflect their designs, including Brixton, Vauxhall, Caledonian Road, Hammersmith and Baker Street stations.
Photograph by British artist/radical sex activist Ajamu X, and quote by queer writer and activist Joseph Beam.
In Marc’s own words:
“In my work and activism, I want to challenge the notion that love between Black men is unacceptable. In a world where our love is judged, met with violence, and criminalised, to express it is revolutionary.
Brixton, my forever home, has a rich history of Black queer activism. Having this roundel in my local station where I have boarded tubes set for destinations where I explored the richness of Black gay life in London, makes me immensely proud.”
︎ In collaboration with Transport for London, UK
︎ Photograph by British artist/radical sex activist Ajamu X
TFL commissioned five prominent members of London’s LGBT+ community to design Pride roundels for 2021; installed across the Tube network to celebrate London's LGBT+ community.
A symbol of London for more than 100 years, the roundels aim to spread messages of love, support, compassion and hope, diversity, and unity on the public transport network through the medium of design.
Each location was specially chosen by the creators to best reflect their designs, including Brixton, Vauxhall, Caledonian Road, Hammersmith and Baker Street stations.
Photograph by British artist/radical sex activist Ajamu X, and quote by queer writer and activist Joseph Beam.
In Marc’s own words:
“In my work and activism, I want to challenge the notion that love between Black men is unacceptable. In a world where our love is judged, met with violence, and criminalised, to express it is revolutionary.
Brixton, my forever home, has a rich history of Black queer activism. Having this roundel in my local station where I have boarded tubes set for destinations where I explored the richness of Black gay life in London, makes me immensely proud.”
︎ In collaboration with Transport for London, UK
︎ Photograph by British artist/radical sex activist Ajamu X
Beyond the constraints the format imposed, the challenge was to create a visual message that could be digested and understood in 1 to 2 seconds - the duration in which a rushed commuter would encounter the piece in a real life context.