Designing for Generation Y (1 of 3)

A couple of years ago I attended a Hip-Hop Conference in Washington DC, with the goal of learning about the specific Hip-Hop demographic, which is not exactly an age group or ethnic demographic. The goal was achieving cultural competence and developing communication strategies with the specific demographic, for me specifically in developing design, imagery and visual identity.

First, I don’t even want to get into the whole Generation Y debate. Generation Y was defined originally as the generation after Generation X, and Generation X as the one after the Baby boomers. If the interpretation of a generation is 10 years, and the baby boomers are retiring , then I should be one of generation Y. But in demographic lexicon, Generation Y has continued to move down as people grow older, and has somehow become synonymous with Teen and, in some cases, PreTeen audiences, in the demo info I’ve reviewed. If someone could explain that to me, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise, I’m just taking it as given.

There were several specific presentations around each element. One I found the most directly useful was presented by CSAP (Center for Substance Abuse and Prevention), specifically by the CSAP Communications Team. The presentation was called Communicating and Working with Generation Y: a Cultural Perspective. I’ve pulled freely from notes on that presentation for this.

It was a trip. The key to the analysis was that it broke down the grouping into shared values, and then analyzed those values. From a reverse-engineering standpoint then, you could approach any message from the values perspective, and communicate your particular message using the value as a conduit for connection. The values were:
Activism, Morality/Spirituality, Authenticity and Identity.

Taken each in turn, I found this the most useful part of the presentation, though it went into much more than just this. These values were identified through manifestations, or observable behaviors, and those behaviors represented the clearest paths to communication—the hook that allowed targeted messaging. And they each had a direct corollary to design, and well as editorial applications. Of course, I was mainly concerned with the design issues. How these apply specifically to design directed at a Teen and PreTeen audience is, of course, a matter of interpretation—and the following is mine. But the fact is that a sensitivity to youth values in design can make the difference in whether the product appeals to the intended target, or whether they feel it applies to their parent, or their younger sibling. The “this is for me” factor is key.

For example, the value of authenticity is extremely important to the teen demo. Translated into design, it’s about the images feeling real, the colors feeling relevant and the organization moving around with a kinetic energy that says “Amusement Park” not “Saturday Evening Post.” And this can mean reflecting looks and attitudes that are real, though not always desirable. Piercing isn’t something that is necessarily desirable to encourage, but showing a model with a piercing gives authenticity. Showing Teens having fun can be a great image, as long as it feels like an authentic good time, not a “posed for the camera” good time. Such difficult to define elements of authenticity vary from group to group, based on life experiences, geographic location, and economic status. But the bottom line in terms of imagery is that the truth may be difficult to identify clearly, but a lie stands out.

Another key value is identity. Identity, which I will go into in a future blog, as it affects branding, is essential to get right for a teen demo, as it is inextricably linked to authenticity. You can’t be real in the message if you don’t know the identity of the recipient of the message. But a level above that is that in Pre-Teen audiences especially, identity is still being formed. Therefore this is a key age for assumptions about identity to be compelling in presentation of identity; to present an aspirational identity of who one wants to be, not necessarily who one is. This may seem contradictory to the value of authenticity, but it’s not. We all want to be more than we are, and one of the key elements in the design communication therefore needs to acknowledge not only where the target is, but where, and who, they want to be.

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