First things first manifesto – the first version, 1964.
Like many others, I was deeply struck by this when it first came out in 2000 (although truth be said, unlike many others, I was still in college at the time, and therefore all they talked about seemed distant).
Later on, and after a couple of intense years working as a full time designer, things like this increasingly started to make sense.
Encouraged in this direction, designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design. The profession’s time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at best.
Many of us have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this view of design.
What they proposed, in turn, seemed idealistic, even utopian. But even so, their ideas kept nagging me throughout the years.
Filed under: dovetailing, history, opinion, 1960s, 1990s, design activism, emigre, first things first, ken garland, manifesto
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