OUGD501. Context of Practice 2. Studio Brief 2 - THEORY INTO PRACTICE - Propose, Produce, Present.

we were introduced to the new module about thory into practice. we were asked to choose a theme from the following:

Sustainability

Modernism

Propaganda

Social Impact

Consumerism

Visual Language

i decided to choose social impact because of the focus of my essay, which was something i wanted to continue with. because my essay looked at female gender stereotypes, as portrayed through advertising i decided to base my practical brief around this.

i started by looking at sexism in advertising throughout history.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/17-ridiculously-sexist-vintage-ads

http://www.businessinsider.com/these-modern-ads-are-even-more-sexist-than-their-mad-men-era-counterparts-2012-4?op=1#!KPL0c

i read a number of online articles and journals about gender roles within advertising:

Gender Role Portrayals in Advertising: an Individual Differences Analysis

Consumers' reactions to traditional versus non-traditional role depictions are also expected to be consistent with their attitudes toward female roles. Consumers with liberal attitudes toward the role of women are expected to react more favorably to the portrayal in advertisements of a non-traditional female role than those consumers with conservative or moderate views. This expectation is consistent with previous findings, noted earlier, that liberal women differ significantly from others in several consumption related behaviors.

http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=6391

Difficulties in differentiating gender roles in the modern societies can be a perfect example of the negative social effects of using stereotypes. A division of gender roles is deeply rooted in the social archetypes. In the past, the patriarchy was a dominant family model. Through the ages men have been considered to be financial providers, career-focused, assertive and independent, whereas women have been shown as low-position workers, loving wives and mothers, responsible for raising children and doing housework.

http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/

i also took some photos of scenes i thought depicted steretypical gender roles, or instances where there was a cross over or equality in scene:

i then went on to consider what sort of proactical outcome i could develop in response to my research. having gained an in depth understanding of methods used to target consumer groups, and how these promote gender stereotypes, i thought about how i could possibly expose them. this lead me to the idea of a publication that depicted the steretype and altered it to give the audeince the understanding of how advertising can enforce gender roles. having done some more research i found a number of gifs of a similar theme.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/caitlincowie/what-happens-when-you-replace-the-women-in-ads-with-men

i then went on to do some basic sketches and came up with a concept for how i could disguise gender roles via the other sex and then expose them through recognisable visual elements.

i tried to include some stereotypical trait of each gender to mask the opposing one.

using acetate as an overlaying stock, i drew the aspects of the scene that would alter the gender

i did a number of these, involving male to female conversions and vice versa.

this image shows both images separated to explain the overlay.

i then went into indesign to design the layout of the written aspects of the ublication. i used 'birds of paridise' and 'century gothic' as heading and body fonts repsectively. i think they represent the themes of the publication well.

i wrote a small passage explaining the contents and concepts of the publication.

i then proceeded to cut the pages down to size.

i used spray mount to attach the title and copy pages to the cover board.

to secure the fold i attached a backing sheet to the cover board so folding would not compormise the mechanism and use.

i scored each page in line with the cover

using a hole punch and rivet gun i secured the pages to the cover board to complete the publication.

i think the outcome was produced quite well and i think the hand made aspect of the publication adds to its effectiveness. i think the concept is also quite strong as visually exposing the stereotypes is cross lanuage and can be understood more effectively than words meaning the communicative aspects are more effectively understoof by the audience. i think my time management on this project was lacking and meant some of the production was rushed, jeapordising the integrity of the outcome, however i think it still works. overall i think the concept was strong but the physical outcome could have better crafted