Overview
With the market of cleaning products still primarily targeting women, there are stigmas still surrounding sterotypical gender roles in a household where the women are expected to do the chores. Tough challenges this with their line of cleaning products aimed specifically at men, encouraging them to pick up cleaning through sensible and thoughtful design.
The main challenge of this project was choosing how to interpret modern masculinity in a way which appeals to many consumers. Masculinity is a spectrum and something which is fluid depending on each different cultures, circumstances, and life experiences. My current interpretation of masculinity is in simplicity where men value honesty and straighfowardness.
Target sector: Young men, ages 18-35 who want to keep a clean apartment and/or are frustrated by their room mates lack of cleanliness.
Along with this moodboard for inspiration, I used free word association to help translate Tough's ideals into visual outputs. I decided to define masculinity with three words: Utility, Modular, and Straightfoward.
I characterized cleaning products for males using organized typography, modular grid-like placements of elements, and negative space. This appeals to my target sector in that they would associate the clean and simple design with being tidy. Furthermore, the design is neutral enough where both genders would purchase the products.
Conclusion
This project has taught me how design is a medium for translating ideas and messages to viewers. In this case, design is used to comment on the current situation for gender norms and stereotypes. These outputs was one out of many ways to convey ideas of masculinity to consumers.
