Gender Neutral Symbol

LOGO DESIGN

The design of an acceptable and universal Gender Neutral symbol has always posed an unusual challenge — it must embrace a diverse audience and go beyond traditional stereotyping. We designed a truly inclusive, respectful and humane symbol by adopting a non-conformist approach. The binary elements that come into many existing symbols were eliminated: instead, we used a dot to differentiate the symbol, which made it iconic and universal.

The simplicity of our design ensures high recall value and universal acceptance by being inclusive of binary, non-binary, transgender, agender, genderqueer, pangender, gender non-conformist and others. Further, the accompanying text ‘Gender Neutral’ in Hindi and English will support the symbol in all public spaces of India. The first application of our symbol design was at Kartavya Path in New Delhi, the central seat of Governance in India, which gets a wide exposure. This is the site for the Republic Day Parade and a prime tourist attraction where visitors come from all over the world.

Application of the Gender Neutral symbol on signage at Kartavya Path, the central avenue leading to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and thereon to the Parliament in New Delhi. This seat of central governance in India is a much-visited tourist destination where the the celebrated Republic Day Parade is hosted.

Prof. Dr. Gaurav Raheja

Professor & Head (Architecture & Planning) IIT Roorkee | Universal Design & Accessibility Consultant | Urban Social Sustainability Expert

"Symbols are a profound language of our existence, behaviour and functional understanding. Creating a new symbol and a new icon is like giving birth to a new meaning while respecting diversity of interpretations. The ‘Gender Neutral’ symbol by Lopez Design is a beautiful starting point for a conversation and meaning of gender inclusivity especially for the ignored dimensions of genders that fall into grey zones in public amenities or public space context.

Compliment the effort, the ideation and the outcomes of the design research carried out by Anthony Lopez and his team for this beautiful evolution and it being recognized through the German Design Award. As every language has a starting point, its meanings transcend and percolate with its evolving journey. I believe the same for this new symbology. It’s new. It’s unique. Hence, it’ll undergo it’s process of interpretations and understandings till it settles with an identity of acceptance in a plural, diverse and a culturally rich nation as ours. I intend to pursue this enquiry as a research question to unfold the deep cultural knowledge and local nuances that lie embedded in the symbol of ‘Gender Neutral’ identity and many more. Long (Symbolic) way to continue enriching for Lopez Design."