Gender Neutral / Unisex Packaging

The first thing that came to mind when thinking about gender neutral packaging was Freederm, because it's a spot cream / cleansing product that's main target audience is spotty teenagers - regardless of gender.

The packaging is pretty simple. Their colour scheme is blue and white, and though blue could be interpreted as a 'masculine' colour the shade and pairing with white makes it look more clinical. The whole aura of the packaging is 'neutral' it doesn't scream feminine or masculine.



http://www.thedebrief.co.uk/style/fashion/why-we-re-giving-three-gender-neutral-cheers-for-unisex-cosmetics-20141227679

‘My daughter was just reaching puberty and said, “Can you just grab me some deodorant?”’ he told me. ‘I went to the shop and went to the girls aisle for personal care. My daughter's Barbie days were long gone, but everything was still all sparkles and hearts and flowers – with the sinister addition of names like Minx, Tease and Be Sinful. She's 12. She just wants a deodorant!’

Things weren't much better in the boy's section, where everything was blue, grey or black and named Adrenaline, Control and Power. ‘It really hit home with me,’ Sam says. ‘I've always brought my kids up to be equals and to treat each other as equals. But right at the age where they are most vulnerable, the industry splits them into what a boy should do and what a girl should do.’

"It is, he says, the ‘sexual stereotyping’ that has him riled. ‘For young people, skin and hair have essentially the same structure,’ he argues. ‘There are very slight molecular differences, but personal care formulations don’t work on a molecular level when you’re washing your hair. Shampoo doesn’t differentiate between girl hair and boy hair when it’s on your head. It’s irrelevant.’

- Sam Farmer who has set up his own line of gender neutral beauty products after seeing the divide between male and female beauty products. These are pretty nifty, I like the use of different bold colours - I think it's good to have bits of variation between packaging, it's clear they're a set but don't look all the same and you can easily see what you're picking up from the distinct colour and letter on it


I feel like a lot of gender neutral packaging is really bland and think it would be good to branch out more into pattern. A lot of strict gender roles are already in place and this project is about breaking them down rather than conforming to the already set standard of gender neutrality. Anything could appeal to anyone of all genders there shouldn't even be a set 'pink is for girls, blue is for boys' thing BUT there is, so let's tear this wall down. 

I absolutely love this soap packaging as an example of something gender neutral, the pattern is there and makes it look more interesting and appealing but has not been made so "feminine" that it would deter a non-feminine audience. A simple black and white paired with a colour reinforces the neutrality of the product, plus alongside the pattern it doesn't need to have a bunch of 'gendered' colours messing with the design. SOME GOOD STUFF HERE.