What is Gender Neutral Design? Here's How to Best Use It

Design stereotypes are everywhere. One of the most noticeable is the one that separates designs into feminine and masculine.

Even though designers tend to follow the feminine / masculine stereotype to reach the right audience, gender-neutral design is becoming more relevant. In all realms of design, we can see how gender neutrality is taking over. Gender-neutral design is not widespread yet, but seems like it will be in the years to come.

How can you make your designs more gender-neutral? By finding a balance between masculine and feminine. Let’s look at the different ways that the feminine / masculine stereotype manifests itself in different aspects of design. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions about the overall look and feel of your designs and how gender-neutral you want them to be.

Read more at https://visme.co/blog/feminine-design-masculine-design/#47dLwb8k53xgsZRw.99

2. The feminine / masculine design stereotype is everywhere.
Marketing campaigns use specific colors and layouts to appeal
to men or women, depending on their target audience. On the
other hand, products with a broader audience strive for
gender-neutral design. Here are examples of how they
compare to each other.

3. Gender color
stereotypes
start to affect
our perceptions
at a young age.
Children’s toys and
clothing are designed
in blue, green, red for
boys and in pink,
fuchsia and purple for
girls.
As adults, blue is
the favorite color of
both genders, while
brown and orange
are the least
favorite.
Color

4. Men don’t like purple, while
most women do.Men prefer
bright colors and shades.
Women prefer light colors and
tints.
Gender-neutral colors
include monochromatic
grays, light browns,
black, white, yellows
and greens.

5. Typography
The differences between feminine and
masculine fonts are quite easy to notice.
FEMININE FONTS
tend to be smooth,
curved, flowing and
rounded.
Atlanta
Chicago
Denver Boston

6. MASCULINE FONTS
tend to have
straight lines, strong
serifs, geometric
spacing and thick
strokes.
PHOENIX Jackson
Austin
Albany
GENDER NEUTRAL FONTS
include "classic" fonts that
are considered readable
and safe for web use.
Roboto

7. HELVETICA
is the gender-neutral font of
excellence due to its simple
style and lack of flourish.
HELVETICA

8. The union between
When pairing fonts with color
schemes, there needs to be a balance.
Words on their own have a masculine
or feminine meaning. Stereotypically,
the word “ballerina” is feminine and
the
term “power drill” is masculine. If we
were to write these words with a font
or color that doesn’t match its
meaning, the final result would be
disconcerting.
Typography and Color

9. Ballerina
Power drill

10. Layouts
A layout can be part of a website, an infographic or
printed marketing materials. A balanced layout has a mix
of colors, typography and imagery.

11. FEMININE WEBSITES
use colors, layouts, images and fonts that appeal to women.

12. MASCULINE WEBSITES
use dark colors, geometric shapes, rigid layouts and blocky fonts.

13. GENDER-NEUTRAL WEBSITES
use white, black, greys and neutral fonts and shapes.

14. Photography and Imagery
Photos of women
having coffee
together will
appeal to women
who like getting
together with
friends.

15. Photos of men
playing soccer
will appeal to
men who enjoy
the activity.
Gender-neutral
images include both
men and women or
use color to balance
the overall message.

16. Use photography
to personify your
customer. Create
scenes of what
you envision your
clients doing.

17. Product photography can be heavily stereotyped.
Dove is very feminine and Axe is heavily masculine.

18. Icons
MASCULINE ICONS
Straight, sharp edges
FEMININE ICONS
Smooth, curved lines

19. NEUTRAL ICONS

20. Conclusion
It is important to know your audience first in
order to decide whether your designs should
follow a stereotype or be gender-neutral.

21. Made With Visme
Source: 
http://blog.visme.co/masculi
ne-feminine-neutral-design