Gender Vender was founded in 2018 and originated from the University of Washington Bothell Interactive Media Design (IMD) Program. The IMD program provides an interdisciplinary approach to interaction design and emphasis on studio practice enabling students to develop creative solutions to complex problems.
Our group began our ideation process with that in mind and asked ourselves this question: How might we redesign an immersive and interactive experience that can bring awareness for a cause that matters most to us?
As we began our exploratory phase, we found inspiration from the Association of National Advertisers where they estimated that the brand activation market in the U.S. would be worth ~$740 million by 2020. Thinking of a social cause that matters most to us, we learned that the gender pay gap between women and men is not estimated to close until the year 2119.
Deciding on one pop-up medium, we became fascinated by vending machine culture in the U.S. and how it was mainly associated with overpriced junk food or soft drinks. Globally, we see vending machines with a multitude of varying use cases ranging from outputting artwork to ramen bowls and interactive activities.
