04 February 2013

Stereotypes in Design




I read an article on Design Shack written by designer and photographer, Joshua Johnson about how stereotyping could be helpful to design, the differences presented by masculine and feminine typography, and other important factors when determining a target audience. I was intrigued by his breakdown of type and design in terms of evaluation of patterns and characteristics. Johnson believes, “hitting a target audience often means leveraging some stereotypes.” He explains that , “colors, concepts, and typefaces all exist on a continuum. Often there is a clear masculine or feminine aspect to a design that defines its audience, although, there are many examples where a design lies somewhere in between the two.” Your job as a designer is to determine what you are trying to communicate and what elements you will include to influence your audience. A neutral state could possible be the best solution for the design you are creating so you can reach a larger, not gender specific audience, but appeal does not work in one finite way. Neutral is not always as strong of an appeal. 



Many times we begin our design process with stereotypes as observations so we can better understand what a client wants. I liked Joshua Johnson’s example as he compares his design for Cesar dog food and Pedigree, pointing out that the designer should consider the kind of people who will most likely buy this food. He states many implications about the consumers due to their interest in a product and possible reasons behind their choices. Stereotypes are not always correct, but today there are so many types of studies about trends through media use and this can create a more accurate view of what certain groups of people are attracted to aesthetically. 

We must define our purpose and then ask,  is the design meant to attract a specific group or resonate with a much larger audience?  Questions are key when talking to clients about who their message should target. The answers to these questions should affect your design before you begin to sketch out a single idea. It’s about achieving a set of goals and appealing to specific types of people. This should be reflected in your headline copy, typefaces, color schemes, imagery, etc.

5 comments:

  1. I think this makes a very interesting point about design that I'm sure we all do from day to day, yet do not necessarily realize we are doing this. This was very interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like this post because it really does make you double take the image when looking at it. Such as with the "Chainsaw" in Lavanderia, its kind of comical because I tend to check and make sure what I read was correct, especially when I saw a masculine word like "Chainsaw" in cursive.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice topic Brianna. I think that this is a very poignant idea in the design world. Sometimes typefaces make or break that great design, and when it comes to our design generality is a good way to appeal to a wider range but not as effective at all. After all you might want a scripty text if you are working with women or even a special occasion, and blocky masculine text when you deal with men or some form of sporting event, bar opening, etc. It's all about how effective you want your design to be. Nice choice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree that there is stereotype in design, especially in advertising. When are talking about "target audience" it is basically trying to stereotype that group of people. You want to know what typefaces, colors, and images will appeal to the most people in your target audience. Great topic!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is an interesting topic and something I have never thought of. I like that people even notice because not many people do and we tend to just look over it.

    ReplyDelete