OUGD401 - Study Task 08 - Outcomes Evaluation

Original intentions for these outcomes were to use completely gender-neutral colours to engage an audience of both males and females, however it was decided to disgard the green and use a lighter shade of yellow to produce the links to gender-neutrality, as well as making the imagery and information clearer to read. Although these posters make use of gender-neutral toys as imagery, the colours of these toys have purposefully been ‘gendered’ in the use of pink and blue. The graphs themselves which are made from these toys do not have any labels to show which column is for boys and which is for girls, however instead the stereotypical attitude that ‘pink is for girls’ and ‘blue is for boys’ has come into play to ‘label’ these columns. These have been used in conjunction with a neutral yellow for the background and the accompanying text which makes the imagery clearer, in order to create a slight contrast that makes the audience engage with the advertisement more, considering its message and how it has been conveyed. For instance, it aims to make the audience question the use of pink and blue, and therefore realise the extent and effect of such gender stereotypes.

However, this can be seen as a complete contradiction to one of the intended messages which aims to shatter gender stereotypes. For this reason, it can be considered that the posters do not completely successfully reach the originally stated intentions.

It was initially stated that one of the main client needs for this advertising campaign would be the use of clear imagery which could be understood by both parents and their children. The use of LEGO blocks and books to produce the columns of a bar graph means that this requirement has been achieved in one aspect, as LEGO is a universally well-known brand of children’s construction toy, which was originally advertised as gender-neutral.

However, it can also be considered that the choice of imagery may not be as easily understandable for children. Although they should be able to relate to the images themselves, it would not be clear for them to interpret the message being conveyed in them, especially younger children who cannot yet read and would therefore not be able to understand the accompanying written information. In this sense, the advertisements are unsuccessful in achieving their originally stated intentions.

Despite this, links to gender and society discussed in critical writing is very clear, showing the impacts of stereotypes portrayed in advertising. For example, themes of beauty directed at young girls puts an early emphasis on their appearance and how society deems them to look. This links to the initial research focus/quote from Jansson-Boyd which stated that “many studies have found that both women and men do not believe that their current body form is attractive… something that is likely to have been reinforced by consumer societies”.