design context

My written element to COP3 focuses heavily on the use of gender stereotypes where generally not appropriate or even sensical. Much of it looks in detail at the nature of unequal gender representations of the previous century, which I think has sculpted and been partially responsible for Feminist movements of that time, or slightly later. However, one could argue that at this time, women were more often than not, housewives, and that was the only level on which advertisers were able to reach women, perhaps setting them up for more responsibility; how to spend money.

After exploring some options for my practical element, I landed on three main ideas, however, I felt that the 'housewives' and 'fragrances' categories allowed for little wiggle room. If I had presented a man to do the laundry while a woman watches TV, it may go against stereotypes associated with specific genders, but it hints at new ones, which was not the aim. After some deliberation I decided to focus on food.

I have found from my research that the products with the most unjust reasons for involving gender or sex are food products. Food is a universal commodity, and there aren't certain foods for men to eat and women to eat. Moreover, ads are being aimed directly at men or women through the use of the models in the ads, presenting a busty blonde with a challenging stare to sell Burger King burgers, automatically implying that this food is for men, not women.

After further research I was able to narrow down my window for a food campaign. I had been looking closely at PETA advertisements, most of which put people into the situations of animals preparing for slaughter, or guilting the audience into going vegetarian. Their ads all have one thing in common; sex. There is nothing remotely sexy or appealing about half of a woman's body hanging from the ceiling, but PETA identified an element to human nature which is instinctive to everyone, to look at something pleasing to the eye, in PETA's case, while surrounded by unpleasant imagery.

I chose to rebrand PETA's Go Vegetarian campaign, eliminating the gender significance in the imagery, but maintaining the cheeky, innuendo filled body of the text. I chose to use food imagery and incorporate gender stereotypes, but promote the opposite side, the natural, make up free side. To do this I've taken the stereotype and ridiculed it using the food images, comparing them to humans in a way that's more comical than inappropriate.

I am pleased with the outcome of the posters, I feel it fits the idea I initially set out with, to simplify the whole concept of the stereotyped man or women and put across that they don't mean anything and aren't necessary in some areas of advertising. However, in others I think sometimes it can be helpful to include a man or woman, when it is going to be helpful for the viewer in understanding the campaign. When it comes to food, the viewer does not need to be told that they can or can't like a particular food.

If I had more time to spend on the practical, I would have liked to experiment more with binding, as I found the perfect binding did not entirely lend itself to the booklet as it's quite thin and probably would have benefited more from saddle stitch. I also would have liked to have taken a wider range of photos as it would have allowed me more versatility in the poster designs. However, I am pleased with how the concept translates onto paper.