Seattle Design Festival

Gender segregation by color runs rampant in toy stores. Many of us have been raised in pink and blue culture, swaddled in either one shade or the other as infants, given heteronormative toys to play with, and surrounded by built environments visually coded with the gender norms given by our cultural history. In this fun workshop, you will take the role of the designer, playing with color to change the tone and messages of packaging, and then developing a toy for children of all genders. A short introductory lecture will provide the history and social backgrounds behind pink and blue culture, and we will approach current toy design and packaging with a critical eye. Come explore how gender norms and roles are supported and enforced through color and toy design during the Seattle Design Festival Conference.