OUGD501 - Project Statement

Project Statement

Throughout this project I have explored the impact that mainstream journalism has had on the development and reinforcement of gender stereotypes. The initial research for this project involved looking into mainstream magazines and the way in which they present both men and women within their cover images, articles and extras. This showed me that there is a lot of gender stereotyping and not only to do with what people are wearing but also about how they should act, live and even appear sexually to the opposite gender. This lead the research in the direction of how these stereotypes are impacting people and especially the younger generation to feel they need to conform and reach these gender specific ideals in order to be achieving in life. I then started to look into the influential brands such as John Lewis and H&M that had already made steps in the direction of a more gender fluid approach to fashion. These were important movements in the right direction that also influenced others to follow in these footsteps. Researching brands such as this lead into the practical side of COP and the creation of my gender neutral zine.
The creation of a gender neutral publication was a harder one to take on than I had initially expected due to the difficulty of making sure no stereotypes were included down to the small details of colour and even typography. The research was very important in the outcomes for my practical work as it helped me to realise ways in which I could make sure that I kept a completely gender fluid approach to the design in the same way that these well known brands had to tackle the task also. The outcomes of the design followed a similar stance taken by those seen in my research by using colour that were relevant to the images and keeping the designs very clean and neutral in order to remove any well known gender specific stereotypes which could affect the final piece. The research that I have done has suggested that fashion may be going in a more gender fluid direction with well known icons making statements such as Alexander McQueen stating 'It's a new era in fashion - there are no rules.' This is a positive outcome for my COP as I feel that the research is very relevant in todays current affairs and the direction that mainstream journalism may be heading in the near future.