Gender neutral characters

Jul 16, 2018

Hello!  I am developing a training that involves a sensitive topic.  I need to make the scenarios as gender neutral as possible so as not to perpetuate any stereotypes.  It is a serious topic so I don't want to use animal stand ins.  I typed in stick figures into my search in content library and got some interesting possibilities.  Does anyone have any ideas for what else to search?

12 Replies
Rachel Horton

I'm also looking for non-binary characters. As a work-around I inserted the Illustrated Modern character and "recolored" it to black with a contrast of -40% which gives it a silhouette effect. It's not an ideal solution. I thought it may be helpful in that it would tone down the male and female characteristics. Just starting this project so not sure I will keep this design idea. 

Walt Hamilton

In general, the more realistic a character is, the more likely it is to trigger a viewer's inherent baggage. It will almost always be too [fill in the blank] for someone, even if it is an obvious avatar. Stick figures and silhouettes seem to be the best option. They create less interference with the content.

Joseph Francis

Judy Nollet suggested this on another forum; it's appropriate here as well:

You can submit a feature request here: https://articulate.com/support/contact/feature-request 

  • Submitting a formal request does not ensure that Articulate will do it. But it at least brings it to their attention. 

I suggest you check out eLearning Art (https://elearningart.com/ ). Their business is providing characters, so they offer a wide range. And I think their licensing fee is quite reasonable.