Study Task 6

Within this study task I've developed inital ideas and sketches in order which will be developed into different prototypes in order to best address the problems outlines in my rationale.

Initial Ideas and Sketches: Figure 1

Figure 1

In order to develop my initial ideas based on confronting stereotypes i’ve developed illustrations representing those stereotypes which could feature across my three initial ideas which include stickers, a zine and a how-to-guide. Throughout this process i’ve looked at confronting these stereotypes in a satirical manner in order to attract a younger/student audience as I feel this is the best way to engage my audience. Additionally I’ve looked at the colours I could use specifically pink and blue due to there associations with gender which has no scientific backing. Consequently this lead to the development of using pink for male stereotypes and blue for female stereotypes to represent that the impact on these stereotypes is universal and effects both men and women equally. Overall the illustrations have been kept quite simple in order to effectively demonstrate the stereotype which allows the satirical tone to be conveyed. Despite initial sketches experimenting with the use of typography as the main feature for some prototypes I decided an illustrative approach would better reflect the satirical tone I was trying to achieve. In relation to initial hand sketches shown in figures these helped visualise my ideas which I developed and experimented with digitally in order to gain a better reflection of how the illustrations would work within different prototypes. Consequently this lead to the illustrations being kept in the same colour across each prototype with the colour of the background only changing to represent gender as this allowed for continuous identity to be created.

Prototype 1: Figure 2

Figure 2

Gender equality awareness campaign in the form of an illustrative zine aimed at students within Leeds which would be distributed via student unions in the three main universities, Leeds university, Leeds Beckett University and Leeds College of Art. Within this prototype I’ve addressed how I can engage students through the satirical tone within the illustrations and the decision to distribute the zine within student unions for free allowing the zine to available to everyone. The title of the campaign ‘Ze’ which is a gender neutral pronoun supports the idea that both men and women are effected equal by stereotypes due to there unrealistic representations of people and gender within society and advertising. In addition ‘Ze’ will be the sole feature on the cover of the zine either placed in the top right corner or bottom right as it seem to create the greatest impact within these spaces during initial experimentations. The satirical tone within the illustrations takes a light hearted approach to tackling these stereotypes in order to show students within Leeds that they don’t have to conform to these ideals as the illustrations highlight the out-of-date opinions these stereotypes are based on. Throughout the zine there would be limited text to allow the illustrations to be the main focus however Helvetica would be used for the title on the front cover and any text inside in order to convey the message clearly and concisely without distracting from the illustrations. Overall I personally feel this is an effective way to engage students within Leeds as the zine would be easily producible using recycled paper and basic stable binding allowing it to be distributed at low cost and give to students for free.

Prototype 2: Figure 3

Figure 3

Illustrative stickers which could be placed over certain stereotypical advertisements around Leeds to highlight the unrealistic portrayals of men and women within advertising. Consequently these could be easily and cheaply produced and distributed within student unions for free. Therefor allowing students to have an impact on what they see within Leeds by drawing attention to certain stereotypes that particularly effect them. In relation to the design of the stickers I’ve experimented with the use of title on the bottom and without and plan to gain feedback on which is most successful. The illustrations have been kept simple so they can be easily understood with or without the title in order to easily convey the individual message when placed onto a specific advertisement. 

Prototype 3: Figure 4

Figure 4

Fly posters as part of a gender equality awareness campaign that could be place over stereotypical adverts or put around Leeds in student areas such as Student unions, by bars/clubs, in shopping areas to remind students that they don't have to live up to the ideals portrayed in the media. The posters would feature the same illustrations as the zine and could include the #Ze so students could look up the campaign and discuss certain stereotypes that effect them or others. The only potential issue with using the illustrations on fly posters is the use of pastel blue and pink may get lost in an urban environment when surrounded by quite vibrant gig/club night posters. Despite this issue the poster could also be produced quite cheaply using recycled paper and pasted across Leeds. This would allow weather damaged poster to be replaced easily to keep a solid identity within Leeds city centre. Another issue with using fly posters as the main aspect of the campaign is that they may fail to effectively engage students therefor not having a significant impact in a similar way that a zine or stickers would as they have nothing tangible to hold and take away. However overall I think fly poster would be an effective way to portray a campaign within a large city but may fail to specifically target students.