Queer, Ill + Okay is a multidisciplinary performance series highlighting the experiences of queer-identified individuals living, surviving, and thriving with chronic illness, centering HIV. The series curates a diverse array of narratives that explore, challenge, reclaim and reinvent representations of gender, sexuality, the body, physical and mental health, and illness.
A few years into producing the series, founder Joe Varisco engaged me to help evolve the visual identity to reach broader audiences, including potential community partners and granting foundations. I worked closely with Joe to understand the history of Queer, Ill + Okay, and his hopes for it’s future. Together, we clarified the concept for the brand into the phrase “grown-up grassroots.” The resulting identity system played homage to LGBTQ activist group Queer Nation, embraced a plus sign as an ampersand to indicate HIV positivity, and balanced a transgressive boldness with a focused purpose, much like the series itself.