Design
February 18, 2009

Women and men have different aesthetics. If you know you are designing for women - what graphics would you use?

Oh, MiGod, not pink again!

Women and men have different aesthetics. If you know you are designing for women - what graphics would you use?

Companies spend millions each year on marketing research to figure out what women want and how to sell it to them. So, if you are a man and don't have a million to spend for research - just make sketches and ask your girlfriend or wife for her first impression.

Don't forget to ask the same question the next day - the answer might be the opposite:)

Here are some articles that can help you understand this a little bit better.

1. University of Glamorgan study conducted in 2005. One of the key points from the findings: In almost every case women preferred those sites designed by women

2. An investigation of gender on the Internet

  • 57% of men recalled product attributes and brands, despite the concealment of logos. They made 20% more "narrow view" mentions, and 15% more mentions of exact wording.
  • Women mentioned their feelings about the overall web site without prompting 31% more often than men. They also made 44% more "wide view" mentions and 75% more color-related mentions .

    Preferences - Favorite Color



  • A review of color studies by Eysenck in the early 1940’s notes that St. George (1938) maintained that blue for men stands our far more than for women. Related to different colors, Eysenck's study also found that the most significant gender difference is yellow being preferred to orange by women and orange to yellow by men. Natalia Khouw states, "this finding was reinforced later by Birren in 1952 who found men preferred orange to yellow; while women placed orange at the bottom"

    From this study I have learned - don't use too much orange when designing a site targeting women.

    Now, what to do if you have more than one million colors to use?


    Big companies have spent large money for research. I have looked at the different sites that are targeting female audiences at money.cnn.com:

  • Women CEOs for FORTUNE 500 companies
  • America's largest corporations (Industries - Apparel)
  • FORTUNE 500 best companies to work for

  • Nice pallettes! Elegant warm colors and just a little bit of pink...
    The selection below is a very tiny part of FeaturePics Author's Images that can be placed on the above sites without editing. Women in their everyday lives, no posing, or just very natural posing...
    Image of mother and daughter collecting shells on the beach
    mother and daughter collecting shells on the beach
    Photo of Intent in brown tones
    Intent in brown tones
    Picture of Pretty woman measuring her forehead
    Pretty woman measuring her forehead
    Picture of zuzana
    zuzana
    Picture of Temptation
    Temptation
    Photograph of Flying Hair
    Flying Hair
    Image of girl with a scorpio tatoo
    girl with a scorpio tatoo
    Photo of Denise
    Denise
    Image of Lonesome
    Lonesome
    Picture of Drinking Water 2
    Drinking Water 2
    Picture of wet fun
    wet fun
    Picture of Closeup Portrait of Beautiful Blonde Teen with Blue Eyes
    Closeup Portrait of Beautiful Blonde Teen with Blue Eyes
    Picture of Portrait with a bouquet
    Portrait with a bouquet
    Picture of Smiling Business Woman
    Smiling Business Woman
    Image of Fashion Model
    Fashion Model
    Photograph of Business Woman
    Business Woman
    Image of Wedding bouquet
    Wedding bouquet
    Picture of Smiling girl
    Smiling girl
    Photograph of The girl behind glass
    The girl behind glass
    Photograph of Correct a make-up
    Correct a make-up
    Image of Cosmetician mask
    Cosmetician mask
    Picture of Morning make up
    Morning make up
    Image of Young asian woman in bed
    Young asian woman in bed
    Photo of Erotic woman
    Erotic woman

     
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