Rankin creates high-impact campaign for LGBTQ+ helpline Switchboard, as hate crimes surge

London-based creative agency Rankin has partnered up with LGBTQ+ helpline Switchboard to promote a new campaign which aims to reach people affected by the rising rates of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes reported across the UK.

Hoping to target members of the LGBTQ+ community in “areas with poor representation or high incidence of hate crimes,” the Safe Space initiative is an attempt to engender a feeling that the switchboard service is just that — a safe space.

Founded in 1974 as the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, the charity now provides a “one-stop listening service for LGBTQ+” people over the phone, or by email, and through instant messaging.

Spread across buses, billboards, and magazines, Rankin’s creative for the campaign is described by Switchboard as “head-turning” and “high-impact.”

Using declarative takes on the sort of questions that Switchboard volunteers regularly field (such as “How do I know if I’m gay?” and “What does non-binary mean?”) and a suitably strong approach to type, married with a vivid colour palette, the work certainly garners attention.

“We want to spread their reach and positive impact across the UK — beyond London and out to the people who may feel isolated, alienated and alone,” says Jordan Rossi, director and producer at Rankin says in the press release accompanying the campaign’s roll out. “As an agency we’ll always be proud representatives of the LGBTQ+ community and nothing gets our creative juices flowing more than a charitable cause.’

The campaign arrives in the wake of a shocking report conducted by the Guardian which states that since 2014 homophobic hate crimes have doubled, and transphobic ones trebled, since 2014 across England and Wales.