Designing Gender
A Feminist Toolkit
Published on 25. January 2024
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-350-27375-7 (ISBN)
Description
This book offers an ideal first step for designers looking to disrupt contemporary design practice by challenging gender inequality. Drawing on feminist and queer theory, it outlines key concepts and applies them to a broad spectrum of design activity. By developing feminist design approaches and methods, it provides a practical resource for designers wanting to make a change.
Designing Gender covers essential topics including definitions of sex, gender and sexuality, histories of women in design, parity in professional design practice, diversity of users, non-binary design approaches, and sustainable and equitable futures.
Filled with examples from around the world, the book recognises the culturally specific nature of gendered experience. Interviews with designers working in a diverse range of fields including user experience design, visual communication, interaction design and critical design, highlight the challenges and opportunities involved in designing a more equitable society. Each chapter showcases key methods and tools and culminates in hands-on activities.
Designing Gender covers essential topics including definitions of sex, gender and sexuality, histories of women in design, parity in professional design practice, diversity of users, non-binary design approaches, and sustainable and equitable futures.
Filled with examples from around the world, the book recognises the culturally specific nature of gendered experience. Interviews with designers working in a diverse range of fields including user experience design, visual communication, interaction design and critical design, highlight the challenges and opportunities involved in designing a more equitable society. Each chapter showcases key methods and tools and culminates in hands-on activities.
Reviews / Votes
Integrates theory and case studies backed by useful exercises that that will improve the (design) world in tangible ways for all -- Michelle Marzullo * California Institute of Integral Studies, USA * A tremendously enjoyable read that has stimulated a lot of thought and reflection -- Nathan Martin * Arizona State University, USA * The book makes a significant contribution to the field of gender and design by exploring how design can perpetuate gender inequality and offering transformative approaches to address it. The framework for analyzing gender artifacts using gender norms and script analysis encourages designers to consider the origins and ethics of the data they use and critiques the linear understanding of gender and time. * Society for Technical Communication *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
83 colour illus
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
717 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-27375-7 (9781350273757)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sarah Elsie Baker is Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at Media Design School in Auckland, New Zealand. Her research interests are focused on design and social inequality, specifically in relation to user experience and design futures. She teaches design research and methods, as well as courses exploring gender and design.
Content
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Gender, Feminism and Things
Introduction: The Complexities of Sex and Gender
Defining Gender
Feminism and Systems of Oppression
Gendered Things/Gendered Processes
Designing Intersectional Gender Justice
Case Study: Gender Swapping, Karin Ehrnberger, Stockholm
Interview: Lindsey Brinkworth, Senior Researcher, Magic+Might, Chicago
Activity 1: Gender Journal
Activity 2: Norm Discussion Cards
2. Women, Craft, and Technology
Introduction: Questioning Design (His)stories
Craft as Feminist Resistance
Feminist Redesigns and DIY Aesthetics
Cyberfeminism and Gender Hacking
Case Study: Buen Vivir-Centric Design, Diana Albarran Gonzalez, Mexico/Aotearoa
Interview: Cornelia Sollfrank, Artist and Researcher, Berlin
Activity 1: Pick a Theme/Make a Zine
Activity 2: Hack It Game
3. Women and Design as Profession
Introduction: Gender in the Design Industries
Women and the Professionalisation of Design
Design Knowledge and the Making of the Professional
Masculinities at Work in Design Cultures
Addressing Inequality in the Workplace
Challenging Gender Norms in Professional Design Practice
Case Study: Designers Speak (Up) Catherine Griffith, Aotearoa New Zealand
Interview: In-ah Shin, Graphic Designer, Feminist Designer Social Club. Seoul
Activity 1: Situational Knowledge Map
Activity 2: Listening Positionality Exercise
4. Making Gender Inequality Visible
Introduction: Gender Justice as a Global Issue
Data, Power and Invisibility
Design and the Gender Data Gap
Feminist Counter-data and Queering AI
Visualising Inequality
Case Study: Visualizing Gender-based Violence, Nepal
Interview: Brindaalakshmi K, Thematic Lead, Point of View, Chennai
Activity 1: Queering Algorithms
Activity 2: Gendered Life Data Drawing
5. Feminist Design Futures
Introduction: Design and the Future
Speculative Futures and Design Fictions
Speculative Design and Inequality
Feminist Visions of the Future
Futuring Tools and Approaches to Time
Speculative Design and Gender
Case Study: Freak Science, Mary Maggic, Vienna
Interview: Luiza Prado de O. Martins, Artist and Researcher, Brazil/Germany
Activity 1: Participatory Futures Tool
Activity 2: Speculating with the Past
6. Non-Binary Design and Sustainable Practice
Introduction: Feminism and Ecological Crisis
Towards Non-Binary Design
More-Than-Human Entanglement, Post-nature and Queer Ecology
Indigenous Worldviews, Design and Becoming-With
Unmaking Design Practice
Case Study: Lehuauakea, New Mexico, US and Papa'ikou, Hawaii
Interview: Sixto-Juan Zavala, Designer and Illustrator, Texas/London
Activity 1: Mapping Entanglements
Activity 2: Feral Experiments
Preface
1. Gender, Feminism and Things
Introduction: The Complexities of Sex and Gender
Defining Gender
Feminism and Systems of Oppression
Gendered Things/Gendered Processes
Designing Intersectional Gender Justice
Case Study: Gender Swapping, Karin Ehrnberger, Stockholm
Interview: Lindsey Brinkworth, Senior Researcher, Magic+Might, Chicago
Activity 1: Gender Journal
Activity 2: Norm Discussion Cards
2. Women, Craft, and Technology
Introduction: Questioning Design (His)stories
Craft as Feminist Resistance
Feminist Redesigns and DIY Aesthetics
Cyberfeminism and Gender Hacking
Case Study: Buen Vivir-Centric Design, Diana Albarran Gonzalez, Mexico/Aotearoa
Interview: Cornelia Sollfrank, Artist and Researcher, Berlin
Activity 1: Pick a Theme/Make a Zine
Activity 2: Hack It Game
3. Women and Design as Profession
Introduction: Gender in the Design Industries
Women and the Professionalisation of Design
Design Knowledge and the Making of the Professional
Masculinities at Work in Design Cultures
Addressing Inequality in the Workplace
Challenging Gender Norms in Professional Design Practice
Case Study: Designers Speak (Up) Catherine Griffith, Aotearoa New Zealand
Interview: In-ah Shin, Graphic Designer, Feminist Designer Social Club. Seoul
Activity 1: Situational Knowledge Map
Activity 2: Listening Positionality Exercise
4. Making Gender Inequality Visible
Introduction: Gender Justice as a Global Issue
Data, Power and Invisibility
Design and the Gender Data Gap
Feminist Counter-data and Queering AI
Visualising Inequality
Case Study: Visualizing Gender-based Violence, Nepal
Interview: Brindaalakshmi K, Thematic Lead, Point of View, Chennai
Activity 1: Queering Algorithms
Activity 2: Gendered Life Data Drawing
5. Feminist Design Futures
Introduction: Design and the Future
Speculative Futures and Design Fictions
Speculative Design and Inequality
Feminist Visions of the Future
Futuring Tools and Approaches to Time
Speculative Design and Gender
Case Study: Freak Science, Mary Maggic, Vienna
Interview: Luiza Prado de O. Martins, Artist and Researcher, Brazil/Germany
Activity 1: Participatory Futures Tool
Activity 2: Speculating with the Past
6. Non-Binary Design and Sustainable Practice
Introduction: Feminism and Ecological Crisis
Towards Non-Binary Design
More-Than-Human Entanglement, Post-nature and Queer Ecology
Indigenous Worldviews, Design and Becoming-With
Unmaking Design Practice
Case Study: Lehuauakea, New Mexico, US and Papa'ikou, Hawaii
Interview: Sixto-Juan Zavala, Designer and Illustrator, Texas/London
Activity 1: Mapping Entanglements
Activity 2: Feral Experiments