Conclusion
Firstly, do I think that designers are responsible for creating stereotypes? During this series, I have seen that many factors are responsible for creating stereotypes. I believe we as designers have a part to play in the enhancement off stereotypes but I do not believe that we are solely responsible for the creation of stereotypes. I have seen that even the most non stereotyped objects like a hearing aid has become a stereotyped object due to social pressures and the way we are as a society. I believe designers use society as a justification to the reasons why we create products that fit into stereotypes and almost enhance them but I do not believe we create them. It is easy to say that we should just create products that do not fall into stereotypes like Saana Hellsten's Basik or follow in the footsteps of Aesop and their gender neutral products but when society are demanding products that fit into certain stereotypes it understands to see why designers still create these products. That leads me on to my second point and whether designers have an obligation to break the mould. I think we as designers play a very important role in the way society interacts with products. If you look at mobile phones they are a product that are created without much gender stereotyping in mind. Apple have made a very solid platform by creating phones that are not created for male or female but creating a range that appeals to all types of people. I feel this is where designers can have an impact in the promotion of Gender-neutrality. We can create products that are going to appealed to a wide range of people but not specifically targeting them at people. They should be encouraged that anyone can buy it and that it is for anyone not creating products for a certain gender that makes others that do not conform to that label feel like it is not made for them. It very normal for a male in todays society to walk around with a rose gold iPhone or a female to walk around with a black iPhone but when it become a guy using a pink rucksack or a little girl demanding a boys set of Legos society seems to be uncomfortable with these all of a sudden. We as designers have a part to play in starting to promote this as the normal and showing it is ok for people to feel comfortable using whatever product they want but at the same time society need to follow suit by accepting change and not shooting down companies and designers for trying to promote this change. Im going to finish off with a quote from Emma Watson’s speech for the HeForShe campaign at the United Nations Headquarters.