Changing Landscapes In Gendered Civil Rights And Its Effects On Food and Beverage Packaging
Carlisle Ross
The concept of gender is inseparable from the human experience. It has shaped sociopolitics from the very beginning of human society, influencing social hierarchies, conflicts, and the way human beings interact with the world around them, down to the very food they eat. What is now touted as a performance separate from biology, according to philosopher Judith Butler in Performative Acts and Gender Constitution, who states: “gender is in no way a stable identity or locus of agency from which various acts proceed; rather, it is an identity tenuously constituted in time-an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts” gender still defines every aspect of human life, even if it is nearly imperceptible (p.2). Even still, one could argue that something so integral as gender is not as important to the human experience as food. Finding food is the impetus of every living thing on earth, from the tiniest single-celled organism to the largest blue whale, and humans are no exception. While we may not put as much energy into finding it as we did thousands of years ago, the drive to satisfy hunger is still one of the primal directives influencing human behavior today. Food and gender, two pillars of human social behavior, came together with the rise of the food and beverage advertising industry. This study seeks to identify the methods utilized in the American advertising industry in the 20th century to leverage gendered human behavior to target consumers in the food and beverage sector as a pretext for the marketing trends seen in the 2020s.
PRISM Bottles
Designed for ultimate taste and appearance customization, this system of interchangeable protein drink modules is based on the gender spectrum and human patterns of expressing their genders in social settings. Taking the psychology of shape language as a basis for the design, the masculine-coded bottle is based on squares, the color blue, and vertical pinstripes. The typography is designed to adhere to the same principles, with vertical, condensed letterforms that match the bottle. The feminine-coded bottle is the round, circular-based bottle on the other end of the design spectrum. It uses wavy, organic lines in pink that provide a smooth, non-threatening shape. The typography is round and bubbly to match. The androgynous bottle is in between, and uses triangles as a design basis, which have no gendered connotation due to their inconsistent icon usage. The color yellow was chosen as both part of the CMYK color scheme and as the middle color in the spectrum between cyan and magenta. The parallel lines are angular, however they staircase across the bottle, confusing connotations and allowing the design to exist without gendered pretext. The typography, triangular and with rounded caps, is an homage to the triangular basis. All bottles include a triangular pyramid inset into the bottom of the bottle both as a physical prism shape, and to prevent protein powder from settling in the center while mixing.
Customized PRISM Bottles
Research shows that gender-neutral packaging is what sells best, as consumers dislike being pandered-to on gendered lines. But what is gender neutral? In the opinion of this brand, gender neutral is not a thing that can exist outside the context of the gender spectrum that surrounds it. It is not removing all aspects of masculine and feminine, but allowing them in to coexist in perfect harmony. Gender neutral, in this way, is in the eye of the beholder, and may include more traits from one end than the other. This brand allows consumers to custom craft their own bottles, mirroring the way gender is custom crafted by each person, to create something that is wholly their own.
PRISM Vending Machine Close Up
Housed in a specialty vending machine modeled after a birdcage, the components to create a PRISM protein drink are displayed here. Consumers choose one flavor, protein powder, and liquid base option, and the bottle is assembled and dispensed. After consumption, users are expected to return the empty aluminum bottles into a recycling receptacle below the machine, or pay a 500 kredit fine for hoarding materials on a closed-loop resource system.