Philippa Duployen

Gendered toys are widely debated and they often receives much criticism from consumers and campaigners alike. Using the toy manufacturer LEGO as the main case study during the period 1971 to the present in 2017, this thesis examines the ways in which its toys have marketed and designed with gender in mind. Since 1971, seven toy lines within LEGO have been designed and marketed especially for girls. LEGO have maintained that these targeted lines are to get girls aged 6+ engaged with LEGO and that girls play differently to boys and need toys designed to reflect this. The relationship between gender and design is thus cyclical. This relationship needs to be further critiqued. Perhaps design is a reflection of the gendered nature of play that already exists or perhaps gendered play is provoked by design. The LEGO lines targeted at girls have endured various success and failures, but it has been the most recent line LEGO Friends, created in 2012 that has been the most commercially successful. This dissertation examines how the marketing material and the toys convey and communicate gender through design through analysis of object based research and advertisements. Drawing from disciplines that include sociology, gender studies and history, a design history approach will be applied to this study through close material analysis and the use of semiotics. This dissertation highlights the key areas relating to gendered design, which include materiality, child consumption, the child as consumer and play. The first chapter explores the consumer and LEGO’s gendered marketing. This is followed by the second chapter focusing on the materiality of the toys, examining the design of the figurines used in the sets and the use of colour. Finally, the third chapter critiques the relationship between gender and design through play theory and a case study conducted at the Museum of Childhood, involving children’s play.