hermeticgamer wrote:
> I had this come through my email from a popular culture/internet
> listserv. I haven't read it or know anything more...just thought I
> would pass it on to interested parties.
>
> Peace,
> Hermetic
>
>


Going to put that one on a wishlist somewhere.

I've noticed not so much with race itself, but with nationality, that
there are very particular design styles.

Look at some websites from Korea, Japan, or different parts of Europe -
and compare the color and layout preferences with those put out by
American designers. American design houses tend to prefer whites and (at
least in SF) gay asian men (no idea what that is about, but in the 90s
when I worked in design, all the asians I met fit that profile if they
worked in an 'mainstream' design firm). In fact I've had it said to me
that the reason there were no African Americans in the graphic design
program I was studying at in the late 90s was that they were not a
visually artistic race... ( ??? )

(Of all the possible racial stereotypes I would expect people to apply
to Africans, that one is the last on my list, but its been repeated to
me several times while I was in the design community - it became pretty
clear to me than any African American who put in a resume in the places
I worked at would not get far unless he came in as a programmer like I did).

Which is to say that the design preferences that have taken hold in the
mainstream of US websites have, more than likely, a particular ethnic
slant which is laking in diversity. For that reason it may be that
websites built by and for minority groups in the US might have their own
notable differences, much as you can see nationality based differences
when you go global in looking.

It might be interesting to do a comparison there, using sites that other
than their designers and intended consumers have similar themes.
- so for example, comparing the website of a major university with that
of an historic black college.

If we went to something like music on the other hand, the 'differences'
are intentionally amplified beyond reality to 'overappeal' - such as how
a lot of the 'gangster image' of hip hop is built up as a marketing ploy
(likely largely to appeal to teenage suburban WASPs who want to feel
'cool').

Which brings up a whole other topic - how effective is the internet at
reinforcing / promoting negative and or patronizing ethnic stereotypes?

Remember the d20 game a few years back about roleplaying 'blaxploitation'?
- A game that in many ways is a shining example of using a genre to
reinforce a demeaning stereotype...

How much of that treatment is getting served up on the internet as well?



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