Formal presentation

Critical Report

Why is pink a feminine colour?

Much of my work throughout year 1, had a predominant focus on colour. I have always been fascinated by where colour comes from? Colour trends? Cultural differences? The psychological impact of colour? Why are certain colours assigned to a particular sex? I started off my research by looking into Colour trends, with a main focus on Pink/Blue and their associations.

‘Girly’ ‘Feminine’ ‘Camp’. These are all words we associate the colour pink with. But Why? In actual fact, back in the nineteenth century, colour was genderless with infants and children wearing white clothing allowing the parents to have more of an inexpensive and conventional lifestyle, “before 1900 most babies in the United States wore white clothing to signify their age but not their sex, consistent with cultural norms.” Not only was there an introduction to bleaching, but white clothes were able to withstand frequent laundering with boiling water. So when and why did everything change?

Believe it or not, Blue was initially introduced as a feminine colour, not only was it perceived as more of a “dainty pretty colour” but there were strong associations with the Virgin Mary. What is also really interesting is some artists mixed ‘Lapis Lazuli’ into their paint to depict the most sacred female icon. Another factor was the popularity of blue and white sailor suits for young boys. “A July 1856 news item in Godey's Magazine noted that the layette featured lots of white dresses with blue trim. This was because their first-born baby "voue au blanc" (dedicated to the Virgin) and would wear white and blue for its first seven years. This was said to "symbolizes special protection."

According to ‘The Dress maker magazine’ it wasn’t until WWII when the colours were reversed and pink was more associated with girls and blue with boys. This was mainly due to the Nazi Germany concentration camp, where they labelled people with different coloured emblems (triangles) as a form of identification. Pink triangles were sewn onto the uniforms of the homosexuals and yellow on the Jews. Another reason could be the Women’s liberation movement (1960s) which associated the colour pink with traditional female roles.

Some people thought aesthetically, pink was more appropriate for boys or girls with brown hair/brown eyes and blue best suited for infants with blue eyes, blonde hair. The blue clothing complimented and corresponded well with the blonde hair and blue eyes. Pink, being more of a darker, warmer colour worked better with brown (also a warm colour).

“Blue was flattering for blonds, pink for brunettes; or blue was for blue-eyed babies, pink for brown-eyed babies” - Jo Paoletti. This idea links well with another theorist I came across when researching colour and human response:

E.R.Jaensch theory suggests that people who have blonde hair and blue eyes are more attracted to colder, lighter hues (blues and green) also known as ‘green-sighted’ because of their location in the world (tropical climates/cold climates). While darker complexions, brown eyes have more of a warm, vivid hue preference (red-sightedness), ‘Where sunlight is more abundant, people are likely to show a preference for warm, vivid hues.’

Pink is a colour which has only recently been added to the English dictionary. Derived from ‘pinking shears’ to trim cloth, which gave rise to the flower Dianthus plumarius  also known as common pink, garden pink and wild pink. The associations are evocative of spring, health and youth - “young men and women might wear pink clothing; old men and women did not.” Interestingly, the colour red is seen as such a dominant, symbolic colour of strength and power, yet pink is the same colour only slightly lighter - the subtle changes in colour can have such a huge impact on the emotions being portrayed and associations we have with them.

Pink and Blue gender associations are still around in this day and age but not as prominent. Elsa from the film Frozen is a perfect example of how blue isn’t necessarily seen as a ‘masculine’ colour anymore - Her blonde hair and blue eyes correspond with her blue dress, therefore based on more of an aesthetic point of view rather than because of her gender perhaps?

There are arguments regarding whether colour preferences are due to nurture, or nature - Can your gender really determine your colour preference from birth? Are males and females sensitive to different regions of the colour spectrum? Speculations and scientific experiments continue but no one can be 100% sure. Do boys inherently prefer blue? Do girls inherently prefer pink? These are questions I would continue to research further.

All this research relates to my current practice because it has given me more of an insight into colours and the type of emotions they reflect (especially in branding). This is useful for future designing If I were deciding on a colour for a product, I’m now in a better position to consider colours with a broader range of knowledge on how it could be perceived - particularly in regards to target audience.

In terms of the practical work, I potentially could have played around with colour experimentation? Perhaps look at objects which are mainly associated with a particular gender (because of the colour)  but what would happen if I altered or reversed the colours? Play around with asking what people’s emotions are in response to colour exposure and do my own little experiments. I could create a body of work which reverses the whole gender-specific colour association in the 20th Century. I think it would be interesting to just explore colour further, in a practical sense and see where it would take me!

Bibliography

PAOLETTI, J. B.

Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys From the Girls in America

In-text: (Paoletti, 2012)

 Paoletti, J. (2012). Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys From the Girls in America. 1st ed. Indiana University Press.

CUMMING, R. AND PORTER, T.

The colour eye

In-text: (Cumming and Porter, 1990)

Your Bibliography: Cumming, R. and Porter, T. (1990). The colour eye. London: BBC Books.

BIRREN, F.

Colour and Human Response

In-text: (Birren, 1984)

Your Bibliography: Birren, F. (1984). Colour and Human Response. Van Nost. Reinhold.

Pink and blue: The color of gender, Article · September 2008, Paolo Frassanito & Benedetta Pettorin

Professional context blog

Post 1: - Study Task 1 - Who am I?

I have learnt that I am more of an analogue illustrator than a digital one.

I have learnt that it is perfectly fine to make bad drawings - this has

allowed me to have more confidence in my work. Colour and shape are

I want to know more about selling my work and setting up my own website.

I want to become a pro at screen printing. Digital art is something I've never really

experimented with so it would be nice to know more about it.

My strengths are mono printing and generally mixing medias to create interesting

outcomes. I tend to really think outside the box with my concepts and not be so literal.

I need to be more reflective with my blogging and do it more regularly. I tend

to sketch out a few ideas and stick to one which I feel is best - i need to produce more initial sketching.

Noma Bar is one of my favourite illustrators. Rick Berkelman and Shepard Fairey

- I'm really drawn to colour and simple shapes.

I need to look at more resources that demonstrate my area of interest within the creative

industries - Other than Instagram etc.

Post 2: Study Task 2 - reading and understanding texts

'Pink and blue: the colour of gender'

Paolo Frassanito, Benedetta Pettrorini

The author is trying to investigate the meaning of colour and how it has changed over the years.

She is trying to establish whether or not there was a pivotal turning point when colour coded

gender differences (pink for girls, blue for boys) drastically changed - and the factors

of why/how it changed.

Key quotes/points:

'If you like the color note on the little one's garments, pink for the boy and blue for the

girl, if you are a follower of convention' The Sunday Sentinal (advised mothers)

'It was not until WWII that the colours were reversed and pink was used for girls and blue

for boys...' - The Dress Maker Magazine

Darker blue was associated with Virgin Mary

Painters often mixed 'Lapis lazuli' in paints to depict the most sacred female icon.

Nazi Germany had something to do with pink being associated with femininity

- catholic traditions in Germany reverse the current colour coding because of the

association of blue with Virgin Mary.

The Nazi's in their concentration camps use a pink triangle to identify homosexuals.

Post 3:

'Colour and Human Response'- Faber birren

E. R. JAENSCH (THEORY)

Blond complexion types for the most part have different attitude toward color than do brunets.'

'the difference between a predominance of sunlight in the more tropical regions of the world

and skylight in the more polar regions.'

'red-sightedness' - intense light (brunette, dark eyes, hair and complexion) - natural preference

is for red and warm hues.

Blonds - 'green-sighted' (blue eyes, light hair and light complexion) Preference is for blu and greens.

Where sunlight is abundant, people are likely to show a preference for warm, vivid hues.

Post 4:

Colour Distinctions

'In the biological records of animal life it is apparent that the female responds to vivid colours.'

'Babies still being dressed in pink for a girl and blue for a boy. This tradition may have

originated in ancient

Egypt, where boys were seen as a gift from the heavens, and so became associated with

blue, while girls

were seen as being of the flesh and were, therefore, were invested with a more mortal skin

colour. Also the

Victorian class division of 'blue collar worker and white collar worker' is still common currency.'

Post 5:

The various briefs and task I have achieved this year have allowed me to develop into a slightly

more refined practitioner. Much of my work focuses around the concept of colour and simplicity -

My graphic approach to briefs has allowed me find success in Editorial illustration and Character

and Narrative.

Because my approach to illustration comes across quite 'graphic' and in your face' I feel like my

practice would fit in nicely with Book design, and Packaging - my interest in more symbolic,

metaphorical imagery leads me to think Editorial illustration is also appropriate for my practice.

I like telling a story through imagery - simplifying more complex images (using cut out shapes)

is a big part of my practice, which would fit nicely into Children Books illustration.

Summative statement:

These posts are pivotal in my journey through semester 1. I have a learnt a lot about colour theory

and their associations which in turn has helped me in my current practice in the selection of colours

for branding, printing, packaging etc. My PP posts have been extremely useful in regards to analysing

myself and my practice. This has helped me to become a lot more assured as a practitioner and

become

more of an established illustrator - understand and embracing my own style.

PP also helped me to escape this uni 'bubble' where i am so wrapped up in the ease of having everything surrounding me when reality is this won't be forever. The research I have been doing into potential jobs or internships is something I need to keep doing - get myself out there and actually potentially make some money from it.

Working out your current finances and income is extremely important way of working out how much you can price something - something I have struggled with in the past. Taking into consideration the cost of making something, the time it has gone into it and of course the scale of whatever it is for (if its for a corporation) or something along those lines.