“Agender, genderless, cisgender, transgender, intersex, non-binary, gender fluid, genderqueer, third gender, transmasculine, transfeminine - the idea of gender, and even more the idea of an identity that is stable, fixed and unchanging, has dissolved in a fluid tide of acronyms and individualities .”
“The opposition between biological sex and social gender, the subject of so much controversy over the last thirty years or so, has gradually entered the mainstream.”
What do you think is important in producing visuals that express various forms of gender and sexual identities?
Would you say queerness is something underrepresented in mainstream media (such as magazines)? And how do you think more representation could be achieved to reach a wider audience?
The creative industry in recent years has begun to showcase a lot more diversity when it comes to gender identity. In a way this has become a popular trend... Do you think that it is in fact just trend that some parts of the industry are taking advantage of in order to seem forward thinking? Or is just a progression of society as we become a lot more openminded?
A lot of your photographs showcase nudity which I think is really empowering for women, trans women and drag queens. Why do you think it is so empowering and important? Especially against the view point that "women should cover up".
Alasdair McLellan is a well known and respected photographer in the fashion industry and photography world. He has photographed the likes of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and hundreds and thousands of more famous people and models.
He photographs for i-D and Dazed and Confused monthly which is how he came to my attention through my following of the two editorials.
The main reason I wanted to attend his talk was due to the way in which he uses sexuality and crosses over qualities from the gender spectrum within his photography, which is related to my essay and practical topic.
His photography also has a wide range of styles and forms, whether its through digital or film photography. I myself practice digital, but I'm interested to hear from him which he prefers and how each form of photography translates for each of his projects. He is also a film maker, so this could be a good insight into this form of practice (something I have only dabbled in).
(The xx - I Dare You by Alasdair McLellan)
Here are some of the notes and quotes I took from the talk
"The lighting in my photographs is always natural"
Talking about themes he explores and what inspires his personal work - "Mundane, teenage-hood, experiences, dreams, memories, soundtracks."
He says he used to try and "re-create Morrisey theme" within his earlier work.
"Important to have an emotional connection within the location or scenery."
"A beautiful place that I have never visited before can often feel empty as there are no emotions or personal memories attached."
"Visiting a known place brings back memories."
Discusses the role of fashion photography and how realism creates a genuine experience rather than glamour and fantasy which is often unrealistic.
"As a photographer you've got to think what is interesting."
"Fashion photography can create your own world."
"Doesn't have to have a theory or idea behind it."
"Can be instinctual."
"Can be a unique experience that isn't a curated epicentre. Use it as an advantage."
Quotes from questions asked
"Something that happened, but is set up with that thing in mind as a 'real circumstance' re-creation."
"Fashion photography is constructed" Blurring those ideals makes it more interesting.
About his involvement of LGBTQ community - "North photography identity often presents itself as famous white straight male musicians and having the opportunity to be a part of this project that tells other peoples stories that are usually not told."
From this talk I can take away a lot of things that can be in incorporated into my work, especially my practical.
Use the technique of photographing people in the area of where I was brought up or where I experienced childhood/adolescence memories
Especially as
This could hopefully invoke a special emotional connection that comes through in the photograph like McLellan does with his personal work and editorial spreads
He photographs for major magazines so this has given me an insight into the imagery that is often put forward and how it is changing or evolved throughout the years by analysing his previous work to his more recent - to see if there is a difference
How important it is to represent the LGBTQ community and to not be afraid to include gender blurring imagery
Definitely given me confidence to continue to explore my own interests, ideas and personality - especially when it comes to gender based issues or representation
What do you think is important in producing visuals that express various forms of gender and sexual identities?
Would you say queerness is something underrepresented in mainstream media (such as magazines)? And how do you think more representation could be achieved to reach a wider audience?
The creative industry in recent years has begun to showcase a lot more diversity when it comes to gender identity. In a way this has become a popular trend... Do you think that it is in fact just trend that some parts of the industry are taking advantage of in order to seem forward thinking? Or is just a progression of society as we become a lot more openminded?
In your work the colour pink is a recurring aspect. Why do you think using pink is important for gender expression and what does the colour mean for you?
Finally! How do your themes of gender identity influence the design and typography aspects of your designs?
"The 'deal' or 'implied' reader of most women's magazines is self-evidently middle class, white and heterosexual. This inclusivity of address effectively marginalises or makes deviant black, working-class or lesbian women."
"The construction of women as a homogeneous group, or even a group at all, is primarily achieved by the invocation of its supposedly 'natural' opposite - men."
"There is an evident tension between the need to confirm the centrality and desirability of men in all women's lives and the equally insistent recognition of men as a problem for and a threat to women."
pg 9
"The 'lifestyles' portrayed in different magazines are not. of course, coterminous with the actual lifestyle, or consumption habits, of the majority of readers of those magazines."
pg 11
"The expensive commodities displayed in the magazine may, then, not be appealing to aspiration at all, but rather to the realm of fantasy."
can be linked to paris is burning - idolising white rich women in vogue magazine, inspiring their art forms
pg 12
"Magazines vary between those that encourage women to work the double shift... and those which encourage them to resist any pressure to leave the home."
pg 13
"Laws on women and taxation are evaluated in the same manner as the respective merits of different kinds of washing machine."
"At the heart of the women's magazine lies the paradox that 'natural' femininity can be achieved only through hard labour."
pg 14
Semiotics
"However, if reality is structured by language, and difference is central in fixing meaning, then gender difference takes on quite distinct appearance from the mere biological distinctions of sexual difference with which traditional social theory works."
"Semiotics has joined with psychoanalysis in some important contemporary theories of gender."
"that is, they understand 'language' as a deep psychic matter, rather than a social one."
pg 28
"Further, each magazine offers its readers a particular way of making sense of the world.
Contacted Fernando (graphic designer) and Carrie (editor) of the magazines in hope to gain some insights into the design aspect (for the practical side) and general view points of queer magazines - that are lacking in my essay research.
Evidence:
Questions for carrie:
Although Diva is successful and shows representation for the queer community, do you feel queerness is still underrepresented in the mainstream magazine industry?
Showing representation for queer people is something that is really important and necessary! What do you think about certain creative companies taking advantage of queer culture as a 'trend' and using it as a tool to make themselves more appealing?
Carrie got back to me!
Diva is successful and shows representation for the queer community, however do you feel queerness is still underrepresented in the mainstream magazine industry?
Yes, massively. Mainstream magazines are definitely getting better at representing queer communities and telling our stories, but they aren't doing nearly enough, and certainly not for those who are marginalised within the LGBTQ umbrella – people of colour, people with disabilities, trans people, intersex people and so on. Queer people with multiple intersecting identities are still ignored, overlooked, and erased. That's why I think it's so important to have a magazine like DIVA – by queer women, for queer women – which manages to encompass celebrity, culture and many other subjects found in mainstream magazines while still being a safe space. For us, that means no body shaming messages – we'll never run a piece about dieting for example – it means being explicitly trans-inclusive, it means telling all of our stories - not just white, cisgendered, able-bodied ones. I think our readers really value this, and in fact we get lots of letters and emails from straight women who say they love the magazine because of the way we position ourselves apart from other women's magazines.
Showing representation for queer people is something that is really important and necessary! What do you think about certain creative companies taking advantage of queer culture as a 'trend' and using it as a tool to make themselves more appealing?
Obviously appropriating queer culture in a bid to make a quick buck is disappointing and depressing – especially since these companies will be the first to distance themselves from the community when we're no longer in fashion. But it's important to be pragmatic too and the reality is that we need visibility and this, sadly, is one way of achieving that. It's important though that we see these companies for what they are and support companies which are genuine in their support for the queer community.
Girl Gang is a group set within Leeds and Sheffield that brings together girls and non-binary people together to celebrate each other and create a community.
It was a really refreshing way of networking and getting to know people who I wouldn't usually come in contact with. There were people there who worked for the NHS within the Mental Health departments, graduates, early business entrepreneurs and other fellow creatives.
"Girls and Non-binary people" were among the invite sign on the way up to the event and Facebook page.
Although I don't consider myself non-binary I was still accepted in as a male. I did not have to say my preference of gender, but I thought it was interesting that I technically did not get an open invitation. Perhaps a little restrictive and narrow-minded... but I understand their reasoning, which I am guessing is due to wanting to create a safe environment for group members.
However, it did make me wonder if they knew how I identified, would they have accepted me?
That day I was rocking a pink jacket so perhaps they presumed I was non-binary by expressing my fashion choices of colour as "feminine", which allowed me a pass into the group, which is something I also found interesting.
Before going to the event I did worry whether I would be accepted in as a male, so I chose decided to consciously wear pink in an effort to feel more accepted.
https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/kate-moross-university-of-the-underground-miscellaneous-070717 “I always say that I don’t have big ideas, I just have lots of little ones that fill the same amount of time,” explains London artist Kate Moross. “I much prefer to take things a little bit at a time and change things that way. I think change is lots of small steps, not necessarily always the big things.” This small-idea ethos has helped Kate forge a genre-defying career as a graphic artist: she founded the London design agency Studio Moross in 2012, started the vinyl label Isomorph Records, and penned the DIY guide Make Your Own Luck. Her work has spanned from music videos to designing the tour visuals for One Direction. “I very much don’t conform to what most people think of what a graphic designer would be,” Kate confesses.
Kate has recently joined University of the Underground, an institution dedicated to reimagining the rules of countercultures for the 21st century. Kate will be a guest tutor for the university this autumn, and here she speaks to Ted Gioia on the challenges of design education, unconventional creativity, and pushing the outer limits of the imagination. How did you become a designer and start your studio? I kind of fell into it because I really like drawing and just sort of found my way in the music scene doing posters and flyers as an illustrator. Then I went professional. But I found it quite boring, found I wasn’t really challenged or didn’t get to use my mind. I was just sort of a hand for people. So I started Studio Moross five years ago to enable me to do more art direction, more design, and to collaborate with people to find new ways to do things. What do you think is important to teach young design students that’s being missed in standard education practice? A sense of a reality. [Laughs.] There’s this sort of fantasy that exists within academia that you float through these courses and maybe when you come out the other end you’ll be ready for the real world. But usually that isn’t the case. I think you don’t really learn about systems whether that’s technological, governmental, scientific or whatever institutions exist around you. You don’t learn how to interact with them. You don’t learn how to talk them. You don’t know how to change them or work with them. How has design helped you forge your own identity? Well, I very much don’t conform what most people think of what a graphic designer would be. First of all, when I started I was very young. I got a lot of backlash online for being young and also probably for being a girl. Now, I identify as being non-binary, so I live in a kind of middle ground between the two master genders. I’m interested in a world from that perspective: looking at design and design interaction through the eyes of different genders. So for example, I’m constantly battling peoples and businesses who don’t have a third or fourth or fifth box for when you sign up for something and have to enter your gender. That’s something of a small battle I’m fighting every day. I find that there’s so many different types of expression that those things aren’t necessarily grouped into sub-cultures or counter-cultures anymore. I think people fall into different groups but don’t necessarily have one [category] that they identify as – I think that’s more modern generally than just being like “I only like punk music. Or I only hang out with gay people.” I don’t think people are defined like that anymore.
How have you seen graphic design spark social action? As designers we are asked to create a lot of the ways society interacts with institutions. Within that space, there’s a lot of interesting work. I recently saw a piece of work at Design Indaba by Arjun Harrison-Mann, where he created an online platform for people who weren’t able to make it to protests to protest online, particularly for people who are less able who couldn’t physically attend protests. Like I said, it’s not necessarily the kind of work that I do, but it’s definitely the kind of work that I enjoy. What over-exposed term idea in design do you think needs to be challenged? I get sick of so many things in design. I think I hate the homogenisation of design – like how everything is looking the same – but at the same time I hate people that get too caught up on people copying each other. So there’s that weird conflict where I would never promote people copying or indiscriminately referencing trends in design, but at the same time anyone that goes “Oh my god, they stole my design!” I would just be like uh eye-roll. Get over it. It’s 2017. You don’t own this typeface, you don’t own this colour, you don’t own this approach. I just hope the software that we use and the tools we use to create design evolve so that we can start to not be limited by them. We have this fear of handing over control to machines, especially in the creative process. Do you feel there is an alternative view of machines? The machine as collaborator. Yeah, I think that computers can be a collaborator in the creative process. I think that the more we are left alone to make decisions, the more that we will make the same decision. The opportunity to have someone or something else contributing that isn’t necessarily going to make obvious decisions I think, at least for me, kind of solves the problem of idea generation or inspiration. I like this idea that someone will suggest things to me or will just change my work in a way that maybe will make it more interesting. I kind of do that in my own work: I will randomly change an entire document from a three-colour document to a four-colour one. I like those happy accidents. I’ve learned to embrace them rather than avoid them.
Gender-less or Gender-more? Addressing gender in product branding
Georgie Thompson from Design Bridge Amsterdam looks at how branding design is adapting to an increasingly gender neutral marketplace, with mixed results. There has been a huge rise in the prominence of non-binary gender identification in Western society in recent years. More and more people are choosing to identify as genderless or gender fluid and people no longer want to be “put in a box” or have to define themselves as something specific. In turn, brands are choosing to adapt and develop their messaging and products in response to these shifts. However, it still feels like there is a huge question mark over the role of gender in design and about how brands should be reacting to these developments. With an androgynous aesthetic becoming rapidly mainstream, it poses the serious question of whether we even need to design for gender any more. Is this just a trend that will fizzle out in five years, or do we actually need to start considering a fundamental change that will cater to a long-term future in genderless brand design? What got me thinking seriously about this was a recent campaign by Nike for the Dutch women’s football team, where the traditional male lion that features on the royal crest has been swapped out for a lioness on their team kit. I sent this around our Amsterdam studio to see what everyone thought, men and women alike, and it’s safe to say I had some very mixed responses! I don’t doubt for a minute that the brief and intention behind this was to empower women and tackle the ever-pressing issue of gender equality, and that sentiment should always be supported. However, I can’t help but feel that creating a different emblem for the women’s team is actually making that divide even more prominent. If we want to affirm that women and men are equal then surely wearing the same kit would be an even better expression of that? Nike says the transformation aims to inspire a new generation of players to “wear what you are”, which is a wonderful intention. But in this case, the lion is not generally perceived to be male at all. It’s representative of The Netherlands as a nation, something that embodies the people and the spirit of the country. It feels like the focus here has been misplaced on gender as opposed to the craft and skill of the Dutch football team, which is surely what it should be about. While the Nike example has gotten mixed reactions, it’s a step forward in that there has been a genuine thought about how to challenge and question the role of gender in design. That’s more than can be said for Aurosa, a beer that’s been designed specifically for women. That’s right, a beer specifically for women because apparently we are incapable of drinking the regular kind. Aurosa is brewed in Prague and has been exclusively created for women in a slim pink marble-effect bottle, which of course is much easier for our tiny, elegant hands to wrap around. It’s a bit unfair to condemn this example in isolation because we all know a vast number of brands have been influential in manifesting gender stereotypes over the years. I feel that with the rise of gender fluidity in society, surely now is the perfect opportunity to finally relinquish gender clichés and start appealing more to shared motivations, values and attitudes of people instead. London designer Kate Moross, who identifies as non-binary, explained in a recent interview that “there’s so many different types of expression that those things aren’t necessarily grouped into subcultures or countercultures anymore”. People’s views are shifting, interests are changing and a passion for politics among young people is the highest its been in a long time. Designers and brands alike are in a prime position to influence and make change, by promoting acceptance, tolerance and tackling some of these issues head on, rather than undermining them. When researching for this piece, I spoke to my brother to find out his experiences of brands and gender stereotyping as a transgender, bisexual male: “As a trans man, when I first started my transition I found product buying really difficult. Not only did I still need to buy female products like tampons but I also now felt like I had to conform to male gender stereotypes so people would not question my already difficult decision.” By sustaining and conforming to gender stereotypes, many brands are inadvertently alienating whole communities of people for whom gender isn’t necessarily black and white. This is something that desperately needs to change as gender fluidity continues to be a growing choice for consumers, and as consumers who do identify as male or female become increasingly less tolerant and responsive to gender stereotyping. Interestingly, a very recent report has been published indicating that the Advertising Standards Authority is reviewing its approach to advertisements that feature stereotypical gender roles with the aim to eliminate ads that mock people for not conforming to these stereotypes. This is a great start and hopefully we will begin to see more developments in this area over the coming months and years. When it comes to brand and packaging design, we’ve noticed an increasing trend in gender neutral designs, with the beauty and cosmetics sector leading the way. Pioneers like Aesop have already proven that founding a skincare range on shared attitudes and values, instead of gender ideals, can lead to a brand with enduring and universal relevance. The Ordinary is a great example of a much more recent skincare brand designed in a gender-neutral manner, reflecting its focus on integrity and advanced functional beauty that appeals to everybody, not individual genders. Perfume brand Byredo is an equally good case in point; the clean and understated packaging allows the consumer to focus on the quality and function of the product as opposed to whether it’s designed for men or women. Founder of Byredo, Ben Gorham explained to Vogue earlier this year that he never considers gender when creating the products. “To me, all gender related conversations in fragrance are outdated and I feel people are starting to understand that our notions of what is gender-specific comes from marketing and commercial programming.” Meanwhile, Finnish designer Saana Hellsten has founded a career on her award-winning project, Basik, that shows the power of completely gender neutral packaging and how this approach can be used for whole ranges of products.
At the other end of the spectrum, the creatives behind party game Cards Against Humanity have chosen to use humour in their packaging design to address this issue. They’ve just released a hilarious parody on female-targeted products with their Just For Her edition: “It’s the exact same game as the original, but comes in a pink box and costs $5 more.” The profits from the limited-edition pack will be donated to Emily’s List and aims to highlight the discriminatory pricing practices against women. Well played guys, well played. Some of the biggest names in the advertising industry have also begun to address the topical issue, with the likes of Unilever forming an Unstereotype Alliance in partnership with UN women. Leaders in the ad and tech world such as WPP, Google, Mars and Facebook aim to help eliminate the prevalence of stereotypes through changes in the way they communicate to consumers, but also how they operate internally ensuring it becomes part of their working culture. This is helping to tackle all kinds of stereotypes, not just gender specific ones. Meanwhile in 2015 The Cannes Lion Awards created a new award, the Glass Lion, to recognise work that implicitly or explicitly addresses issues of gender inequality or prejudice. We may never be able to eradicate gender differentiation completely. As designers we should all be questioning and thinking if and why a certain product needs to be directed more towards a particular gender, or not. We should also be designing with an understanding of the needs of people who don’t identify themselves as male or female, so we don’t alienate large groups of consumers. At the same time, we should also be aware of going too far the other way. “Non-binary”, “transgender” and “agender” have fast become buzzwords. Brands run the risk of appearing insincere if they change their messaging to stay on trend without having a real understanding of this community and the issues they face as consumers. A few years from now when the buzzwords have just become words and there’s a new lifestyle trend on the horizon to distract us, let’s hope brands will address people as people, as individuals and human beings with less stress on whether they are male, female or whatever they choose to be. To finish off on a lighter note, we all remember that infamous “Pens for her” shocker that the well-known stationery giant Bic somehow managed to get into the market. Well, thankfully BuzzFeed have kindly collated the best reviews of the said product here, for all those interested in some further, lighter reading.
For my practical to coexist along side my essay it has been decided to create an editorial or zine of some sort that will surround the theme of gender identity.
The editorial will explore themes expressed in the written content, but will provide a more personal opinion that showcases a liberal, politically correct and forward thinking view point when it comes to gender ideals.
Themes:
Celebration of masculine, feminine, androgynous characteristics
Underrepresentation of queer people
Gender based mental health
Breaking down of gender stereotypes
