Creating the GENDERS identity

Science Gallery London’s Katie Barron speaks to designers Ben Templeton and Bene Webb from Thought Den about the process of creating the kaleidoscopic creative identity for GENDERS: Shaping and Breaking the Binary.

KB: Ben, you’re one of the co-founders of Thought Den. Can you tell us about yourselves and your approach?

BT: Bene and I have been collaborating since our university days. We share an outlook on life but our skills differ slightly. I tend to cover concept and planning while Bene is the master craftsman. We’re a bit like the copywriter-art director duos from 1960s adland.

Thought Den was founded in 2008 around the concept of playful learning, which the name references. It’s also a portmanteau of Ben and Dan, one of the original founders.

We specialise in playful digital experiences like Total Darkness - an online adventure game for the Science Museum - or Magic Tate Ball, which uses the time, date, location, weather and noise levels around you to select an artwork from Tate’s archive. Alongside the games, we’ve got a long history of graphics and animation. Our Design In A Nutshell series for Open University got millions of views.

BT: Ever since dropping in on a session at Science Gallery Dublin I’ve wanted to work with the brand. The idea of art and science colliding is really captivating. Two projects, Blood Wars in VISCERAL and Spit Crystals in MOUTHY, had me hooked.

KB: What was it like to design the creative concept from scratch? Can you talk us through the process?

BT: In the case of a concept piece like this, the quicker we agree on a route, the more time we can spend on execution. Collaboration was key because the Science Gallery team knew the subject matter far better than we did. We pulled some quick moodboards together around concepts like ‘fluidity’, ‘fruit’, ‘nature’ and ‘kaleidoscope’ to discuss as a team.

Mocking up the first ideas with draft logo and title placements

BT: Bene then rapidly artworked some of the most promising for review and “kaleidoscope” was a clear favourite. This is when the hard work started! There were so many different ways to expand that concept. In fact some of the original concepts like flowers and organic forms found their way back into the final image.

One of my favourite moments was presenting the final image to Science Gallery and hearing each person describe something different that had caught their eye. We knew we were onto something. Some elements were happy coincidences, like the impression of a figure, banana-arms spread wide in greeting and others like the peach and aubergine more obvious.

I like to think the fig-leaves were intentional, given the theme, but that was a lucky coincidence.

Experimenting with the idea of a kaleidoscope

KB: The GENDERS exhibition covers a broad range of themes. Which jumped out at you when learning more about the exhibition?

BW: I was fascinated by the theme of neuroplasticity and how our brains can change throughout our lifetime. Our identity is not only formed by our biology but also our surroundings and the culture we grow within. This was a tricky concept to visualise without being too prescriptive, as we found in early sketches, which we quickly realised were a bit too “on the nose”.

BT: John (Science Gallery London’s Associate Director, Creative) would also occasionally remind us that the image always sits with a copyline, which provides strong context. This freed us up to be more playful and ambiguous with the imagery.

KB: What is behind the colours, shapes and patterns you used in the image?

BW: Many of the forms and patterns were inspired by everyday fruits and plant life. Our research showed us that flora can’t necessarily be defined as male or female, with some plants having both male and female organs, and others being able to switch sex depending on thier enviroment. We liked how the stamens and stigmas of flowers have a recognisable sexual form, enabling us to bring into the image the physicality of gender without too explicitly representing the human gender binary.

As a lifelong fan of the colour pink, I was pleased with how well the illustration sat on hot pink. It gave the image a vibrancy that works across both print and digital forms. The colour pink is closely tied to gender in Western society and using it in this way felt a bit cheeky whilst playing to the exhibition’s subtitle of “Shaping and Breaking the Binary.”

KB: What is it about the design that is uniquely “Thought Den”?

BT: When Bene and I plan projects we’ve always got one eye on humour. Bene is full of wacky suggestions. We want there to be something to make you smile in all our work. It comes down to the idea of play, both in terms of the fun we have creating and in the end product itself. Play is such a powerful way to engage people. It lowers the boundary to engagement. Everyone has a playful side.

KB: Has your approach to the design changed or been reinforced since seeing the exhibition open?

BT: The biggest thing I took from the exhibition is the vibrancy and variation of the works exploring gender. There are computer games, fashion pieces, photography, Instagram filters, rugs, sculpture. Our image hints at this variation without actually referencing any of the pieces directly.

“We want there to be something to make you smile in all our work.”

Creating the GENDERS identity