# Low-key Kind

> Low-key Kind is a campaign from Unique, the charity supporting families affected by rare chromosome and gene disorders. Everyone notices. The campaign asks people to keep the kindness and lose the extra.

Low-key Kind is a scrolling campaign page at https://lowkeykind.cc/, with a companion map page, Noticed, at https://lowkeykind.cc/NoticedMap. A lower-key version with motion off is available from the button at the bottom left, or at https://lowkeykind.cc/?lowerkey. It is about what happens when people notice a child or family who looks different in public (a pushchair, a feeding tube, a noise in a quiet shop) and aren't sure how to react.

## The message

- Everyone notices. Noticing just happens.
- Then we try to be kind: the smile gets a little bigger, the voice gets a little softer, the head tilts to one side, a little more space appears.
- These small things come from kindness, but they're all a little extra, and the extra singles someone out.
- One reaction is small. When it happens everywhere, it starts changing where the family goes: the café gets skipped, soft play gets avoided, the park comes off the list, the wedding invite gets declined. And when you say "no" often enough, people stop asking.
- Unique asked families it supports what happens in ordinary public situations, then asked the public what goes through their mind when they notice someone and aren't sure how to react. The answers met in the middle: nobody was trying to be unkind. They were trying to be kind.

## What Low-key Kind looks like

- Nothing special. You can notice.
- You don't have to know why someone uses a pushchair, what a feeding tube is for, or why a child is having a hard time in the shop. Your usual kindness is enough.
- The hello you'd give anyone.
- An invitation without making a thing of it.
- A simple "Want a hand?" Then wait for the answer.
- Your usual face. Your usual voice. No extra fuss.
- Keep the kindness. Lose the extra.

## Why Unique made Low-key Kind

The story behind the campaign is at https://lowkeykind.cc/why.

- Unique spoke to families living with rare chromosome and gene disorders about moments in public, then asked the public what was going through their head.
- Families talked about the staring, the looking away, people speaking to the parent instead of the child, help arriving before anyone asked, and children being shushed for asking a question. The public talked about worrying they would get it wrong.
- Most people do care. It is what happens when caring gets tangled up with uncertainty.
- Unique has supported families since 1984. Often, families find Unique after a doctor gives a diagnosis they have never heard before.
- Unique turns complicated medical information about rare chromosome and gene disorders into guides families can use and understand, answers questions when there is nowhere else to go, and can often connect a family with someone living with the same or a similar chromosome or gene change.
- Most campaigns ask for more. This one asks for less: not to stop noticing, but to make things better for families by doing less.
- Made with parents, by Tiny Force (https://tinyforce.cc/). Supported by the JCDecaux Community Channel. Created pro bono.

## Noticed: the map

Low-key Kind is out there. In partnership with the JCDecaux Community Channel, the campaign runs on screens in 223 places across the UK. The Noticed map at https://lowkeykind.cc/NoticedMap shows every place, with a search for a town or street.

- Noticed one near you? Send a photo from the map page. Unique adds sightings to the map and shares some of them.
- Please keep faces and number plates out of shot.
- One little sighting can help low-key kind travel a bit further than the street it's on.

## Links

- [Low-key Kind](https://lowkeykind.cc/): the campaign page
- [Why Unique made Low-key Kind](https://lowkeykind.cc/why): the story behind the campaign
- [Noticed](https://lowkeykind.cc/NoticedMap): map of Low-key Kind screens across the UK, and where to send a photo of a sighting
- [Unique](https://rarechromo.org): supporting families affected by rare chromosome and gene disorders. Registered charity no. 1110661.