Mapping queer politics
for PinkList India
Client — PinkList India
Research, User Experience, Visual Language
2023
The PinkList archive is the first archive that traces queer politics in India.
As part of their official launch we were tasked to optimise the map visualisations and the user experience for Pink Sabha and optimise search-ability and discoverability of the PinkList website itself.
The Scope
Building the interactive maps
PinkSabha traces and documents the political landscape and its stance on LGBTQ+ issues in India and publishes relevant and throughly researched information that is accessible to everyone from young voters to researchers.
We started with enhancing the map experience and restructuring the information architecture by dividing the politician data into 6 categories and 4 maps — easily navigable by users.
Our primary challenge was to establish a system that would accommodate the varied types of statements made by political representatives — the maps depict the stance on LGBTQ+ rights, while the categories and subcategories depict the type of stance taken by politicians.
This information structure is based on how the LGBTQ+ community is viewed in India, where trans rights are often separate from overall LGBTQ+ rights. Thus a politician can support trans rights but oppose queer rights.
Icon system
We build the custom set of icons for the categories, that could be used across maps to help with cohesiveness.
The icons use universally identifiable shapes that work with or without context. These icons ended up being used both in UI patterns and as graphic elements.
To have a fully functioning map system, we developed an adjoining colour system to work across maps and categories as well as a colour system for the overall visual language of PinkList.
Colour system
