OUGD501 - First Things First

We had to discuss as a small group the 1964 mainfesto by designer and activist Ken Garland. Other groups discussed other areas, and here is the notes from them:

We found out some things about the manfiesto and Ken Garland:

• He was a founding member of D&AD but left after a year because he didn't like how advertising was taking it over
• He worked for the Labour Party and CND, so designed a lot for social causes
• During the 60s it was the height of consumerism and people were enjoying life after the war and having disposable income, but he felt bogged down by designing for trivial things when the Vietnam war etc was going on, and he wanted to design for that instead which has a purpose
• Wanted to design for society
• Took part in Easter March, civil rights protest, anti-war demo
• Wanted a reversal of priorities for social causes rather than cat food etc

The 2000 manifesto was an updated version of the 1964 one, and was more urgent. 

• It was targeted at a wider audience
• Focus on social effect
• Politicisation
• Big change from original, as it condemns advertising
• Suggests consumerism is dumbing down society
• Things being designed have an ethical dilemma, as credit cards create debt
• Beer, cigarettes, corporate companies who have sweatshops etc are unethical, and this is an attack on them. Designers shouldn't use skill to promote unethical products/companies
• Instead, design activism is being promoted

Rick Poyner talks about the revisited manifesto, and here are some notes:

• Commercial design is political
• Supporting the status quo
• Style over substance

Michael Bierut writes a critique on the 2000 manifesto:

• Defending his way of working
• Lists points to justify what he does is right
• Easier to have ethics when you have a good job and are rich, and harder to when you don't have a lot of money and need to feed family etc
• Designers as exploited class
• Consumer culture
• As people are defined by what they buy and what they do etc, if designers where to drop out of this consumer lifestyle, what would people be left with? 

Make a proposal for a synthesised project for a 3000 word essay and piece of visual communication. 

Themes

• Globalisation and internation perspective
• Social change
• Form/function
• Sustainability
• Consumerism