Do women and men see design differently?
Is design gendered? Do women like different looks and styles to men?
Now, my “thing” is finding the right words and messaging to make your products more attractive to women. But how you present your brand visually is important too. I’ve just finished reading Why Men Like Straight Lines and Women Like Polka Dots by Gloria Moss and found a few takeaways that have made me think about how some websites and ads are put together and whether they’ve really thought through what their design and images are saying. Who are they really for?
Although some of the ideas in the book sound a little too simple to sail through without further examination, Moss has some good examples to back them up. Here are the headlines:
Women prefer design by women, men prefer design by men - which stands to reason because…
Each sex is more likely to draw/depict/include pictures of people like them, i.e. men more likely to include images of men, women of women. Try going to any famous art gallery - even though there are lots of paintings of naked women, there are still more men alongside them (most art that is exhibited is by male artists).
The hunter/gatherer dichotomy is alive and well…
SHAPES AND OBJECTS
Men prefer straight lines and uncluttered backgrounds as they have evolved from being hunters, used to following the horizon and focusing on single images. They prefer detailed objects in 3D, things that can move. (ever wondered why little boys doodle boats, cars and trains?)
Men are drawn to linear shapes eg squares, rectangles
Women are evolutionary gatherers - this means they are better at picking things out of more complex backgrounds, drawn to static, rounder shapes and 2-D objects and natural designs, backgrounds and more abstract shapes (ever wondered why little girls draw flowers and plants?)
Women are drawn to rounds and ovals - in the book, when asked to design a chocolate box from scratch, women made round, curved boxes and men made more angular shapes
COLOURS
Women and men see colours differently
Women can see more colours and shades, especially reds / pinks
Men see best in greys and blues
Perhaps the “girls like pink boys like blue” trope is not 100% down to social conditioning after all?
FACES AND INTERACTION
Advertising that appeals to women tends to be “..verbal, harmonious, complex and category orientated”. The emphasis is on harmony and how your choices work in other people’s lives, as well as your own. Adverts that work are complex and rich in verbal and visual information. Women want to know what the experience feels like. Eg. car driving down road w scenery, other people and context
Men prefer simpler messaging and images that are comparative and attribute-oriented. More competitive language can be used, function is key and details about single functions
Men like seeing things that are mechanical or machine-made - design over craft - detail over abstraction
Sound interesting? Not convinced? Try looking at a few car and banking ads to see how many boxes you can tick from this list…
https://www.tanqueray.com/en-gb/gins/tanqueray-london-dry-gin
http://singvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/HSBC_advert.jpg
https://www.bankcheckingsavings.com/barclaycard-ring-mastercard-review/
https://www.altfi.com/article/5836_starling-launches-tv-ad-campaign-after-reaching-900000-customers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uVHSE2wdPg
More interested in words than pictures? Me too. Get in touch if you want to talk more about language, marketing and getting your brand to reach more women with fiendishly clever words and messaging.
Car image with thanks to © Trace Constant