I don’t usually post about this kind of thing, but I felt compelled to do so after I came across the website for Origo, which claims to be “a 3d printer for mom, dad and the entire family”. The product — still in the concept design stages, it seems — is explicit about its being marketed to children. Looking at their advertising, and the advertising for 3D Tin, the cloud-based 3d modeling app they use, it looks like it’s mainly targeted at boys. Above is the video for Origo, which shows a boy dreaming about dragons, airplanes and other images stereotypically associated with toys for boys.

Here are some pictures of boys using the prototype.

Here’s the splash page for 3dtin: lots of cars, robots, and spaceships. If you follow through to the building page, you see more of the same, plus some blue cars and video game characters.

Here’s are the three alternating front pages for Lego DesignByMe. Notice a common theme? This is admittedly a cute product: it allows you to design and order 3d printed Lego blocks. But the minifigs in the software are almost exclusively male, and a prominent feature suggests that you “build with Dad”.

It’s interesting how marketing to children is far more explicit than marketing for adults. While I’m sure none of these manufacturers were even aware of this bias, and it isn’t limited to digital building toys, if these companies wanted to alienate 50% of their potential market this would be an excellent way to start.

I remember that even as a young girl, the marketing of certain construction toys sent a clear, instant message that they were designed for someone else. And now as an adult woman artist working with technology, and as the mother of a daughter, this kind of thing just makes me depressed. Of course the solution is more complex than including pictures of girls in their advertising materials, but it wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to 3d print a pink, sparkly fairy princess…