female objectification in the media
The Problem
Feminism has several different views and ideas around it; some people may say that it has lost its meaning and become toxic, as women are constantly being objectified and shamed for flaunting their sexuality but perhaps a true feminist would defend these women's choice to do this. This choice however, can make feminism open to exploitation via the back door; female objectification by the media is still common. This is the problem that young women face.
Project Overview
It is important that young females are made to feel less vulnerable from the images and various messages that are made public through the media.
It is important that this complex subject is understood to its true meaning, as a way of making feminism more positive again. The media is a familiar tool, which a vast majority of young women use. In this project, I want to bring back the meaning of feminism through my creativity, by showing young women that the media often shows false expectations. Young women should not feel less beautiful for not objectifying themselves or appearing how the media presents women. It is my aim to make young women feel empowered and love themselves in whatever way they want.
My Solution
My final solution was to create a pop-up exhibition event. Within this exhibition there were several things to think about, such as: the identity, the exhibits and how to prolong the experience. I decided to have one main exhibit; 'Woman in a Box', and then a few other pieces to support that exhibit. A book was also available for my audience to take home with them, so they can share the experience with their friends and family, which was a great way to keep the message alive.
sequel
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Typography
I ended up choosing the font ‘Sequel’ as it is bold, in capital letters and slightly curved. This reflects the tone of voice well for my identity, as I want the font to stand out amongst everything else. The curve in the font mimics the female form, as well as creating a softness to represent the delicate issue at hand. The kerning I have used for this font is set to 0. I have used ‘Din Alternate’ as my secondary font, because it is simple, clear the read and not too formal. In most cases I will use this font with a 10 kern but in others I will use it will a 120 kern, depending on what I am using the font for.
Colour Palette
I chose a wide and colourful colour palette to represent the differences in women and the show all of these differences as equals by using them all together. The colours are paler to appeal more to a younger female audience. Although women liking pink can be considered a gender stereotype, the main pink colour is there because my research showed that girls naturally prefer pink colour hues over alternatives. By using this colour, I will be appealing to more people, and spreading the positive message of female empowerment to more girls, which after all is the most important thing. Furthermore, women should not be shamed for liking the colour pink, just as much as women should not be shamed for liking a more masculine colour. However, the message is female empowerment, not to fight against gender stereotypes.
R233 G74 B84
R76 G188 B190
R71 G164 B97
R252 G201 B6
R243 G173 B170
the pop-up exhibition
The Poster
I used a strict grid for this particular poster, which is likely the main reason it was the most successful. I made sure the first thing the reader sees is ‘woman’ and then the eyes follow round to ‘in a box’. The date is read second, the hashtag third and the further information is read last. The colour palette follows the correct tone of voice: suggesting unity (through the many colours), whilst still appealing to young women in a subtle way with the pink background. The main font ‘ Sequel’ was played around with from the start, but I came back to it because it has a bold, attention grabbing look, which is softened with the slight curve in each letter, which creates a suggestion that this exhibition is a positive experience for my audience to attend.
The Leaflet
The final leaflet cover is actually quite similar to the poster I created, as the text is laid out in a similar way. I did slightly adapt the text position for the leaflet, as it will be much smaller than the poster so it will be read from closer angle. I chose to have no information on the front pages of the leaflet, so that all the attention is on the brand identity - Woman in a Box. When the leaflet is opened, there is one big image of the Woman in a Box prototype I made. This then reinforces the ideas in the audience’s head, that this exhibition is in fact about a woman in a box, which should then spark the topic of female objectification. The two inside side pages is where the information can be found about the exhibition and what makes this exhibition different from others. There are a couple of pieces of work shown on these pages as well, to visualise the information, as well as a sneak peek to the work which is at the actual exhibition. I kept the back page very simple. I used the pink colour background from the brand identity, which means when the leaflet is fully open, from the back there is continuity in the design. The back page just has the same basic information as the poster: date, address, social media and entry requirements. The hashtag for the identity was originally #WomanInABox, but from peer and tutor feedback, it became apparent to me that the identity of my exhibition lacked the message of female empowerment and self love, so I changed the hashtag to #LoveYourself.
The Leaflet - Opened View
The Leaflet - Front View
The Leaflet - Back View
Snapchat Advert
For the Snapchat advert, I researched the length of a typical Snapchat ad length, which I found out is 10 seconds. I thought it was important to have a more interactive advertisement for snapchat, as they can be skipped quite frequently if you don’t gain the audiences attention straight away. I decided to use an upbeat audio to mimic the movement of the text, to show the basic information of the exhibition. This meant that the text moved too quickly and was unreadable, however, snapchat will replay the ad over and over until the user skips, and since it is only 10 seconds long, the user (if interested) will stick around to read it on the second or third replay. The fact that the entry is free for students will be an attention grabber for my audience, as well as the summery upbeat music creating hype for something they can do to start off their summer.
Instagram Posts
For the final first six Instagram posts, I decided to have the text for the ‘Woman in a Box’ posts, in each corner of the post, to maintain the consistency of the brand identity and show the idea of a box shape through the type layout. I kept the two information posts simple, like I did with the poster, leaflet and Snapchat advert, to again show consistency in the brand. I uploaded these designs to the Instagram page - @woman.in.a.box which looks professional because I planned out how it would look on the page itself. This Instagram account will be uploading every so often, up until the date of June 6 (the final exhibition day) to continue to build the hype.
Woman in a Box Instagram Posts
The Merchandise
At the exhibition, there will be a few pieces of merchandise available to buy for a low price. The book will be the only free take home item from the exhibition, the merchandise will be paid. The merchandise includes: a tote bag, wrist bands, pens, hoodies and t-shirts. All of which (except the t-shirt) have the brand identity on them. The hoodies have a couple of options which show some of my work/ designs for the exhibition on them, and the t-shirt has the word girls embroidered on it, which has been shown previously in my sketchbook. The reason behind having available merchandise to buy, is so the exhibition message can live on, even after the actual exhibition is over.
Hoodie Merchandise - Black
Hoodie Merchandise - White
Wrist Band Merchandise
Pen Merchandise
The Book
​
The book is free for people to have at the end of the exhibition. I made this decision because teenagers aren’t typically in a financial position to buy luxury items. There would of been no point making a paid book that people couldn’t afford to buy.
The digital version of the book makes the text look a lot bigger than it actually is. The font size is 9pt, which originally I thought was too small, but my tutor and peer feedback, as well as my own self reflection (by doing tests) all suggested that a bigger point size would have looked too big, which it did. Since my audience are young, I was able to get away with the 9pt size as it wouldn’t be a strain on the younger eyes. Furthermore, there is not a huge amount of text.
I used the same identity I used for the exhibition in the book, as this way there is consistency in my identity and no confusion. The main purpose of this book was to give further information on each piece, as a sort of archive of the designs at the exhibition, to prolong the message and to be spread out further to those who weren’t able to attend the exhibition.
The binding for the book, was a kettle stitch bind, which is typically made invisible through a hard back cover, but I decided to leave it bare as another way of showing 'flaws' to be normal and beautiful. Also, kettle binding allows the book to lay flat, which is less frustrating for the user, when reading the book and looking at the designs within the book.
The Book with Kettle Stitch Binding
Inside the Book..
the final exhibits
Woman in a Box Exhibit
The final projection is an interactive experience where my audience are able to discover their beauty, embrace their flaws and feel empowered by as an individual and with other girls. The message within the projection is directly expressing this with typography, and also giving subtle hints through colour, shape and visual metaphors. I want the audience to understand that just because the media doesn’t show all types of beauty as something beautiful through the media, does not mean that are not beautiful. Flaws are natural, and nature is beautiful, this was talked about throughout the projection; using a hypnotic array of natural colours to get the audience to believe in their physically beauty, and everyone posses beauty. I decided to use a model with an unconventional body type; a body type that the media doesn’t portray to be attractive or beautiful. I did this to further emphasise that women like this are attractive and can be sexy. I thought that it was important that this exhibit used audio to further deliver the message. I used an upbeat, positive instrumental (Hotshot-1nPut) alongside a the song Strip by Little Mix which has popped up a few times throughout this project. The reason behind the woman in the box is to show how the media shows all women in the media; as shiny objects. I want my audience to leave this exhibition feeling empowered and beautiful.
United Kingdom of Women Exhibit
There are several exhibits at the Woman in a Box pop-up exhibition, all of which can be seen within the book snapshots above. However, this particular piece was selected to be showcased inside the August/September 2020 issue of 'Aesthetica' magazine; a proud moment in my design career.
