unisex corporate identity – Design & Research 21

by Kirsty Pavier - April 16, 2022June 26, 2022

My plan for the experiment on gender neutral branding

As mentioned within my last blog post, I plan to experiment with the boundaries between stereotypically assigned female and male design, where exactly these boundaries lie and where gender neutrality could be perceived.

Next steps

1. Plan:

Set up experiment parameters
Set up areas to experiment within

2. Experiment

Research & produce pictures
Research typography, logos, etc.
Design advertising with mix of male/female characteristics

3. Conclusion

For that, I want to begin with setting some parameters within the research and define which areas I want to experiment within. This will give me a brief overview of how the experiment can be conducted. Then, I will produce material for the experiment through photography, researching online, downloading fonts, etc. Next, I can use the materials I collected and start composing designs with different elements to experiment with the use of “female” vs “male design”. After a number of examples are done, I will ask participants to choose if they consider the design more male or female or even gender neutral.

1. Plan

Firstly, I want to give the experiment some sort of structure so I can somewhat compare my findings in the end to come to a conclusion, even though it is an experiment and changes could occur throughout. To stay within the topic of branding, I would like to use the components of the corporate identity: logo, typography, colours, graphics and imagery, with images being the focal point of the experiment. For photography, I will not have any limitations to the subject but will rather see which industries and imagery inspire me to use within this testing.

2. Experiment

After researching and taking pictures, I will combine the stereotypically male vs female images with one, two, three or four components of the opposite gender. For example: I will use a “female” image with stereotypical attributes such as friends, flowers, shopping, etc. and combine those with male characteristics within logo, colours, graphics and typography. Here the question then lies if even replacing one component like colour will already make the design perceived male or only after 2, 3 or even all others. Also it will be interesting to see if some components will have a stronger influence than others and when the in-between stage lies, so a design can be gender neutral.

3. Conclusion

After the experiment I hope to be able to come to some sort of conclusion. I will summarise my findings and what was interesting and start to categorise the results. I am excited to see what this experiment brings.

by Kirsty Pavier - April 13, 2022

Unisex fashion branding as an experiment?- my thought process on finding a topic

Last semester, I was able to research into many aspects of unisex and gender-neutral design within different design sectors while specifically focussing on the fashion industry and branding. I gained a lot of insight on significant factors to consider before developing a corporate identity and what external obstacles as well as internal strategic decisions need to be considered to fully enable a successful execution. After this very theoretical period of research, this semester the task was given to use an experimental approach within our fields of gained expertise and use our creativity and curiousness to discover different aspects in a more hands on methodology.

My struggle of finding the right topic

I have to admit, at first I was very unsure as to how I could apply an experimental perspective on a quite strategic and intentional practice which comes with developing a brand identity. With every establishment of a corporate identity incl. imagery, logo, colours, graphics and typography, comes very thought-out, well considered research and then ultimately the design. With only little room for experimentation in the trial and design phase, it took some restructuring of my thoughts till I ended up with an experiment I deemed useful within my field of research.

My previous research basically resulted in what 4 years of Marketing Bachelor study taught me: it all depends on the target group. I was unsure if an experimentation could emerge from that, by looking into different target groups as well as even different cultures where unisex fashion and other products are much more present and “normal”. Not being 100% certain on the topic and wanting to be more experimental than researching for another semester, within another one of the countless brainstorming sessions, a fellow student of mine mentioned a topic that inspired me to develop the experiment I will now be focussing on the coming few weeks. She, in basic terms, asked: what makes a design female, male or gender-neutral? Even though this was the topic I researched last semester theoretically in detail, while coming up with experiments I seemed to have lost the bigger picture. With only a simple nudge into this direction, I came up with an idea.

The experiment for the upcoming weeks

My topic for this semester will be: where is the boundary between a design being stereotypically assigned female or male? If one component of a brand identity is “male” and the rest “female”, does society then deem the design male or female? Or is this maybe even the key to gender-neutral design? Mixing different societally considered male and female components together? And if yes, how should the ration be?

After finding my research topic, I am excited to see what the result of this research may be. For the next blog post I will start to plan how I can structure my experiment, and what the content for it will be.

by Kirsty Pavier - December 19, 2021

Unisex/ gender-neutral clothing companies – a comparative analysis

NOTE: Before we start, in order to not confuse the terms, I’d like to clarify that the English word for “corporate design”, when referring to the 4 elements of a corporate identity, is called “corporate identity”. Therefore, the English word “corporate identity” is the German word for “Corporate Design” and will be used throughout this article. With that only one element “Design” is meant, without including the other elements “Culture”, “Behaviour” and “Communication”.
Source: IONOS. 2019. Corporate Identity. July 31. Accessed December 14, 2021. https://www.ionos.at/startupguide/unternehmensfuehrung/corporate-identity/.

After researching into gender-neutral design in different sectors like e.g. product design of smartwatches, taking a closer look into the fashion sector and their corporate identity can show the current situation of competitors in the market. When searching for gender-neutral or unisex fashion brands, a handful of articles pop up introducing companies that offer clothing for all genders. Throughout this article I will analyse the different brands based on their corporate identity and their components of logo, colours, typefaces, images and graphical shapes.

For the comparative analysis I chose four companies: Olderbrother (https://olderbrother.us , Riley Studio (https://riley.studio), Collusion (https://www.collusion.com) and Human Nation (https://thehouseoflrc.com/pages/human-nation). On first glance when choosing the websites, it is surprising to say that all use a white background with a black typography-based logo. This is somewhat foreseeable as black and white are often seen as safe gender-neutral colours, however I did expect to see more variety.

Left to right: Logos from brands Olderbrother, Riley Studio, Collusion & Human Nation

Logo comparison

Olderbrother	Riley Studio	Collusion	Human Nation
Combination logo (wordmark & logomark)	Wordmark logo	Wordmark logo (Potentially also combination logo with “x” as logomark)	Wordmark logo
Sans serif typeface Alternation of characters in the wordmark Logomark: smiley face within circle where eyes, nose and mouth consist of letters “o”, “l” and “B”	Sans serif typeface Shorter “i” to create interest For childrens’ sub brand: addition of “little” in front in a script typeface	Sans serif typeface One written word incl. addition of “x” at end in smaller font size Other styled decorative typefaces used on clothes	Sans serif typeface incl. a play in typography with two “n” stretched out Other styled decorative typefaces and variations used on clothes
Wordmark alone used as logomark Wordmark: top of website Logomark: bottom of website, loading screen, social media icon, products Both: clothing tags	Use of one logo throughout website On clothing labels sometimes only use of “riley” Even on social media the one variation of the wordmark is only used “RS” monogram logo used for website icon in tabs	Use of wordmark throughout, also prominently on clothes Use of “x” as logomark, e.g. social media or website icon	Use of logo throughout, also on clothes Sometimes only referred to as “human” Animated wordmark on video visuals

Colour comparison

Examples of colour use at bottom of page.

Olderbrother	Riley Studio	Collusion	Human Nation

Neutral colours with hint of two pastel accent colours Heavy use of black and white and sometimes grey –> white background with black typography Sporadic use of accent colours peach and mint green White buttons with black outline, hover changes to black Mint green: menu Peach: background of header for one page	Only use of white, greys and black Dark grey buttons with white typo Dark grey footer Light grey banner at top	Neutral and pastel colour palette with accent colour Logo alternates: with dark background white, with light background black Accent colour red for announcement and sale Purple buttons with black typo for product categories Light yellow buttons with black typo for filter options Salmon colour for options e.g. load more, sort button Coloured or light grey backgrounds with black typo	Neutral colour palette Mostly white background with black typo or black background with white typo Sometimes words are highlighted with box surrounding the opposite colour e.g. white with black typo and highlight black square with white typo Coloured background with either black or white typo

Typography comparison

Olderbrother	Riley Studio	Collusion	Human Nation
Sans serif typeface	Sans serif typeface	Sans serif typeface	Sans serif typeface
Different weights for headings, body, footer, prices Bold for headings, navigation bar Semibold for subheadings, buttons, product names Regular for footer, page links, body Light for prices Play with typography like in logo –> “shop” as a square, also animated Smaller font size in general, bigger for headings	Different weights for headings, buttons, navigation bar Semibold for headings Bold for sub navigation categories Regular for page links, banner, prices Light for navigation headings, body Font size according to hierarchy: body smaller, subheading bigger, headings big	Full caps only used, except long body e.g. in “about” section Animated banner to the left in accent colour Use of semibold, bold and heavy fonts Semibold for body Bold for subheadings Heavy for headings Use of big font size	ither use of two fonts or two different width typefaces Use of caps in logo Otherwise use of all small letters, no caps (except add to cart button) other buttons small, small letters even at beginning of sentences Use of both bold and light fonts for headings (sometimes at the same time) Bold for parts of heading, product names, prices, navigation bar Regular for body, banner, cart & login, page links Light for parts of heading

Examples of use of typography at bottom of page.

Image comparison

Olderbrother	Riley Studio	Collusion	Human Nation
Product imagery very clean, white background, studio cropped images of products worn	Product imagery clean, white background, also images on models with more of a clean lookbook feel	Product imagery studio images, bright colours, loud, colourful, collage style	Product images model studio images, neutral backgrounds
Lookbook images neutral imagery, low contrast, clean poses of models, more artistic Also, imagery not featuring the clothes to set the mood Also use of still imagery with single movements	Lookbook images, “about” images, neutral images, artistic product imagery without models, neutral poses of models	Lookbook images colourful, vibrant, edited, added graphics, effects, fun backgrounds	Focus on studio images with or without props, some images outdoor, product images outdoor

Examples of image use at bottom of page.

Graphic comparison

Olderbrother	Riley Studio	Collusion	Human Nation
White space, images placed with borders, typo smaller or none –> pictures talk for themselves, minimalistic Use of icons for explanation of process, fine line thickness, similar style as logomark Graphic logo in middle of screen while loading –> animated (turns)	Use of white space, no large font size, use of coloured rectangular buttons, rectangular footer with infos at bottom in grey, not a lot of use of graphics Icons (only outline) for search and shopping cart, Banner at top in light grey Use of typographic circle “we create from waste”	Retro, loud colourful use of graphics, Street style reflects style of clothing, colourful buttons/ rectangular shapes to highlight certain info e.g. headings, etc, asymmetric shapes, use of textures, cut-outs, outlines (around elements of images)	Use of neutral colour rectangles for signaling new section, typography highlighted with rectangular background underneath text, Use of typography to create graphic shapes à swirly lines reading “respect, care, love” Use of round buttons with icons for search, cart, login, country selection

Examples of use of graphical means at bottom of page.

Summary

The analysis shows that there are different approaches to gender-neutral design. In general, it can be summarised that the corporate identity reflects the style of clothing. Brands like Olderbrother and Riley Studio that sell classic, neutral clothing also make use of these means in their corporate identity whereas Collusion that has more tailored clothing to Millennials/Gen Z generations, so a younger target group, make use of more street styled graphical means as well as imagery and colours. Interesting to see is that brands that are considered more classic utilise more classic gender-neutral colours such as grey, beige, white, black. In comparison to that, younger brands break the stereotypes of gendered colours by also using gender assigned colours such as lilac or pastel pink. This perhaps reflects the movement described in previous blog posts, where gender boundaries are becoming more fluid and therefore younger generations are more likely to accept different gender boundaries.

Examples logo, typo, image & graphics:

Olderbrothers

Riley Studio

Collusion

Human Nation

Literature

Collusion. n.d. Collusion Homepage. Accessed December 14, 2021. https://www.collusion.com.

IONOS. 2019. Corporate Identity. July 31. Accessed December 14, 2021. https://www.ionos.at/startupguide/unternehmensfuehrung/corporate-identity/.

Olderbrother. n.d. Olderbrother Homepage. Accessed December 14, 2021. https://olderbrother.us.

Riley Studio. n.d. Riley Studio Homepage. Accessed December 14, 2021. https://riley.studio.

The House of LRC. n.d. Human Nation Homepage. Accessed December 14, 2021. https://thehouseoflrc.com/pages/human-nation.

by Kirsty Pavier - November 5, 2021

Gender boundaries and the influence on unisex fashion branding

Different examples of fluid gender boundaries in fashion and unisex clothing

Topic

This research project is about analysing the stereotypical gender roles that are increasingly beginning to merge. As a result, it is no longer possible to generalise what appeals to men and what to women in terms of a company’s brand design. Especially in the clothing industry, the distinction between women’s and men’s fashion is slowly disappearing and unisex collections and brands are on the rise. The central question here is: are there differences between the preferences for traditional fashion brands that offer both women’s and men’s fashion and the target group of unisex clothing brands? And how does this affect brand design and how can a corporate identity of a unisex brand look like?

Background

Up until 2017, it was not possible to officially register as “diverse” or third gender in Germany. According to the law, “diverse” refers to intersexual people who, since birth, cannot be classified into the gender categories “male” and “female” due to their gender characteristics. Since December 2018, registration has been possible, but this has also caused an uproar in the LGBTQ+ scene. Non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid and agender people feel discriminated against, as they feel they belong to either no gender, several genders or alternating genders, which is why they are not allowed to register. Overall, the issue of differentiating between masculinity and femininity is the subject of many headlines. The stereotypical characteristics of genders are being reformed, such as men as “househusbands”, women with short hairstyles and men wearing make-up. As a result, the boundaries between male and female are disappearing more and more, so it comes to no surprise that this also affects the fashion industry and labelling. For women, androgynous fashion has been around for a long time such as suits and trousers, but through the media in recent years, it is now becoming increasingly recognised that men also like to dress in women’s fashion, such as dresses or high heels. For example, the cover of Vogue in 2020 caused mixed reactions when the famous singer Harry Styles was photographed in a dress. As a result, more and more brands are now following suit, either offering unisex product lines or collections, as well as unisex brands. Unisex fashion has been around for a long time, as seen on style icons such as David Bowie, Prince and Kurt Cobain. Where gender-neutral clothing has already found its origin in haute couture fashion, department stores and fast fashion brands are now following suit by also offering unisex product lines. At the same time, high fashion is introducing “un-gendered” clothing into their collections, revolutionising the catwalks of the fashion world. As a result, the unisex trend has now also arrived in society and is creating a lot of dialogue on the topic of gender identities and fashion.

Literature

Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes. n.d. Geschlecht und Geschlechtsidentität. Accessed June 02, 2021. https://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/DE/ThemenUndForschung/Geschlecht/Dritte_Option/Dritte_Option_node.html.

Askinasi, Rachel. 2020. Why are people acting like Harry Styles is the first man to wear a dress? December 15. Accessed June 2021, 02. https://www.insider.com/harry-styles-vogue-cover-controversy-style-icon-non-binary-fashion-2020-12.

Holaschke, Larissa. n.d. “More Gender- more design? Gender-sensitive design for the society of today.” Not at your service. Manifestos for design. 465-471.

Kelber, Cornelia. n.d. Gender Shift: Zukunft der Geschlechterrollen. Accessed June 02, 2021. https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/artikel/gender-shift-zukunft-der-geschlechterrollen/.

Stitt, A. (2020). ACT for Gender Identity: The Comprehensive Guide. Vereinigtes Königreich: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Franke, B. & Matter, H. (2020). Not at Your Service: Manifestos for Design. Berlin, Boston: Birkhäuser, 467-471.

Stolerman, Kerri. 2020. Country and Townhouse. Accessed June 02, 2021. https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/style/gender-neutral-fashion/.

Thomas, Charlie. n.d. Does the world really need Unisex fashion? Accessed June 02, 2021. https://www.fashionbeans.com/article/does-unisex-fashion-work/#.