Workshop: Unpacking Aesthetics, Gender, and Power in Design Objects

Thank you to Northumbria University's Knowledge Exchange and Research Funding and GF Smith for their contributions in supporting this workshop.

This half-day workshop invites colour experts to critically examine how colour, aesthetic dimensions (such as line, scale, surface, proportion, and ornamentation), and materiality intersect with societal norms to shape the design and perception of everyday objects. Grounded in frameworks like GenderLAB and Norm-Critical Design, the session explores how dominant narratives around gender and identity are reinforced through colour application and visual language in product design.

Led by a colour designer with over 13 years of industry experience across footwear, apparel, and textiles, the workshop blends critical inquiry with applied practice. Participants will collaborate in groups to analyse how gendered design conventions—such as “Pink it and Shrink it”—manifest in contemporary products, and develop visual mockups that subvert normative aesthetics. The session offers space to test inclusive strategies and reimagine colour as a language of resistance and possibility. Participants will leave with practical insight into surface design and inclusive visual storytelling.

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Host or Publisher Colour Collective UK