First things first 1964 Manifesto - Definition and Overview

The First Things First manifesto was written 29 November 1963 and published in 1964 by Ken Garland. Today we may not understand the significance of the document which at the time caused constenation. It was backed by over 400 graphic designers and artists and also received the backing of Tony Benn, radical left-wing MP and activist, who published it in its entirety in the Guardian Newspaper.

Reacting against a rich and afluent Britain of the sixties, it tried to re-radicalise design which had become lazy and uncritical. Drawing on ideas shared by Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School and the counter-culture of the time it explicitly reaffirmed the belief that Design is not a neutral value-free process.

It ralied against the consumerist culture that was purely concerned with buying and selling things and tried to highlight a Humanist dimension to graphic design theory. It was later updated and republished with a new group of signitatiries under the First things first 2000 Manifesto

External links

• The 1964 Manifesto (http://www.xs4all.nl/~maxb/ftf1964.htm)