Representing Diversity
How do we avoid stereotypes, particularly when working with simple means?
Simplicity can have benefits for avoiding over-simplification. Minimal form allows us to represent people without fixing their gender, for example. Yet when we simplify too much of course we risk reproducing problematic clichés – or even erasing people’s experience and existence. Under-represented people need to see and recognise ourselves in the world, just like people who never have to search for images to identify with. It’s not enough to add, for example, a Black, queer or disabled person only when it pushes the narrative. We need images to represent the wide diversity of people simply because we are all here together.
At Scriberia, we’re exploring how to represent people more inclusively, respectfully and creatively. We’re avoiding basing every character on a white male able body and face. We want to ensure our images include by default a range of people with different identities, faces, hair styles, clothes and bodies. We’re learning to listen harder to people with experience of being ‘othered’. We’re trying to become more aware of our unconscious biases (for instance, about gender or cultural identity), and ask ourselves questions prompted by benchmarks like the Bechdel Test and the Riz Test. We’re all committed to taking responsibility, rather than leaving it all to those ‘burdened by difference’.
Naturally there is no definitive catchall formula. We’ll always need to keep learning, discovering and adapting our solutions to each new situation and context. Here are some of the resources we’ve found most useful so far, to help you find your own strategies for your own settings.
A short but rich discussion among professional illustrators talking about inclusivity
The ‘Conscious Style Guide’ - a growing archive of links to articles, guides and discussions on representing diversity. The emphasis is on the written word, but many links contain relevant insights for visualisers.
A user’s perspective on how to illustrate wheelchairs which exposes the importance of doing the research and listening to the people we represent.
Three insights on how not to use colour:
