How Deloitte gave AR postcards the personal touch

We saw this come to life when we partnered with Antonia Forster, an augmented reality specialist, to share the world’s first LGBTQ+ VR museum as a pop-up immersive experience. Built using augmented reality technology, the museum exhibits 3D scans of real-life objects chosen by people in the LGBTQ+ community. There’s a pair of wedding shoes. A teddy bear and a feather headdress. A dog-eared novel. A life-size sculpture. All accompanied by the personal story of the person who submitted them, told in their own voice.

One of the most successful elements of the experience was a quiet area that encouraged visitors to pick up a pen share their experiences, feelings, and reflections. We received hundreds of messages (examples attached) and knew we wanted to do something special with them.

So, we created a collection of 10 postcards inspired by the messages – all designed to encourage those within the community to keep sharing stories. On one side, a hand-illustrated design. On the other, space for people to add their own message and send it to someone. To someone they love. To someone they’re proud of. To someone who needs support. To themselves.

Gathering as a team to read every handwritten message that was submitted to the museum, we worked with Deloitte’s LGBTQ+ network to ensure that the ten we selected were representative of the community. We then worked closely with our in-house agency to create designs that would truly capture the spirit of the original messages.

Rovinya, lead designer for the project, was keen to retain the personal nature of the handwriting used in the original submissions and so chose to hand draw each of the postcard designs. Taking inspiration from the colors of the Pride flag, Rovinya brought through different colors depending on the message or identity featured on the postcard.

Just as important as the postcards themselves was the envelope that they’d be housed in. With a striking design to match the feel of the postcards, the envelope consists of four folds that open out to tell the story of what inspired them and how they can be used.

Postcards were distributed at Belfast Pride in July 2023. They were given out to senior clients, colleagues, and Deloitte’s wider network at a welcome breakfast and were also handed out as part of the Pride parade. In total, we printed 1,000 packs (each containing five postcards) which created more than 5,000 opportunities for people to spread love and support throughout the LGBTQ+ community.

The feedback we have received in response to the postcards has been overwhelmingly positive. Enthusiastic demand for them around the business has already resulted in multiple re-prints, with so many people wishing to share them with their networks.

The spirit of sharing that the postcards inspire has been clear to see on social media too. On LinkedIn, the engagement and click-through rates for posts featuring the story of the were 100% higher than industry benchmarks and reaching 19.78k people. And people who’ve received either packs of postcards or been sent one by someone they know have taken to social media to share their delight – example - Twitter post

We hope that this is only the beginning of the story when it comes to these postcards. The start of a chain that celebrates joy within the LGBTQ+ community, provides hope and support in the face of its challenges and allows more people to feel seen.