Module 2

First Things First Manifesto 2000

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Adam Islaam reflecting on the First Things First Manifesto by Jonathan Barnbrook et al.

This manifesto was first published in 1999 in Emigre 51.

We, the undersigned, are graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators who have been raised in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable use of our talents. Many design teachers and mentors promote this belief; the market rewards it; a tide of books and publications reinforces it.

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. Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact. To some extent we are all helping draft a reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse.

There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help.

We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication – a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design.

In 1964, 22 visual communicators signed the original call for our skills to be put to worthwhile use. With the explosive growth of global commercial culture, their message has only grown more urgent. Today, we renew their manifesto in expectation that no more decades will pass before it is taken to heart.

Reflections from Adam: 

The relationship between this text and Adam:
When I first read this text, it completely transformed how I thought about the role of design. Design does not just shape messages; it shapes what becomes understandable. That idea came with a sense of responsibility. How something is designed (form), when and where it appears (context), and most importantly why it is communicated in a certain way (ethics) became staples in my process. Reading it made me question what I wanted to do with the skills I was learning. Even today, I go back and ask myself if the things I’m producing are contributing in meaningful ways.

Why is this relevant?
Today, the manifesto feels more relevant than ever. When it was written, the authors were concerned that design was mostly used to sell products. Now, the world is even more saturated with false information, commercial messages, social media, and digital advertising. Designers are not just creating posters or logos, we shape the visual language through which people understand complex systems like law, science, public policy, and climate change. The responsibility the manifesto calls for is even greater today because design can amplify ideas, clarify research, and influence how society engages with the issues that matter most.

Questions for the students:

1. What is something you care deeply about that you think design could help make visible?
2. What responsibility do you feel as a designer for the ideas and systems your work communicates?
3. If you had to shift your priorities today, what kind of projects would you choose to focus on, and why?