A fun exercice in Product Design is to draw a men and women version of a design. It’s a good way to be introduced into how to create a design language. You can look at your phone, your computer, your fridge, a bottle of water… and so on, and try to give them a gender. Some may be androgynous.
Feel how a male or feminine design should be, and your line will follow. A quick and simple comparison would be between a muscular male and a sexy female body. There is no magic recipe for that. Best is you define it yourself in order to define better your own style.

About the sketches below, I have in mind a collection that is pure, sleek with a hint of technology. While I try to keep both shoes modern yet elegant. The challenge will be giving a gender to each, keeping the original inspiration of the design. Then, I guess I don’t need to tell you which shoe is which gender. If I have well done my job, it should be obvious enough. :)

DESIGN A

Design B

Which one is Male or Female?
Tell me in the comments.

HINT: To differenciate the gender, I mainly play with:

• the last size (standard size for Women: 36, Men: 42)
• the instep
• the thickness of the outsole
• the thickness of the foam of the tongue
• the curves of the lines

I do not have any checklist in my mind before starting drawing these sketches. I guess I would feel so unnatural if I had one. There is so many ways to give a gender to your Design that best is to leave your creativity driving you. So “the key is not about following a checklist, but to feel it”.

See you guys for the next TIP OF THE DAY ! Hope it helps.
If you want to start learning how to sketch, don’t forget to sign up to the blog and get the Designer Starter Kit.

AND Merry Christmas !