2012
author
Anna Ulahelová (SK)
title
Error 404: Anka can not be displayed
degree
B.A. project
school
Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava
supervisor
Marcel Benčík
The media places great demands on women in terms of their appearance, abilities, and behavior. Anna Ulahelová has analyzed many web sites, magazines, and advertisements on the subject. Based on her findings she has created a ranking list of attributes that every “perfect” woman should have.
The aim of the work was to establish the degree to which we fulfill the media’s expectations. The designer began by assessing herself in this respect, creating lists of expectations and the discrepancies in her appearance, home, culinary abilities, fashion sense, sex, and relationships with friends. The result of her research was Error 404: Anka cannot be displayed. An interactive list of “errors” was placed on the Internet. Any woman can compare herself to Anka and see which media expectations she fulfills.
Anyone patient enough to go through the 404 questions gets test results in the form of a diagram and a set of numbers. All the responses are supplied with links to a web page that tell you how to solve a problem.
The layout and typography have been optimized for the capabilities provided by web sites.
The project turns our attention to the problem of how ideals and images of femininity are created, and the mechanisms in the media that create stereotypes.

www.ankazena.sk