OUGD501- Seminar 5- First things Thirst

We were put into groups and asked to analyse the following text:

First things first manifesto 1964
Ken Garland

Points of interest:

-60's context

-Growing youth culture 

-Anti-war movements
on the back of consumer boom

-More useful ways in which designers can use their skills

-Design to benefit society

-Not trivial purposes

-National purposes

- Design to inspire

-those working in the advertising industry are wasted on trivial purposes

-Contribute little or nothing to our national prosperity

-Reached a saturation point

-Consumer selling is no more than sheer noise

-We think that there are other things more worth using our skills and experience on

-Greater awareness of the world

-We do not advocate the abolition of high pressure consumer advertising> proposing a reversal of priorities in favour of the more useful and more lasting forms of communication

-hope that society will tire of gimmick merchants

-use there skills for worthwhile purposes

-Share their opinions

-design as education


To summarise:

There are basically saying that there efforts are being wasted on trivial purposes that have little or no contribution to society. The amount of gimmick products that are about now has become overbearing and they are saying their skills could be put to use on something more beneficial. They are not suggesting that you get rid of high pressure consumer advertising, but they are proposing a change of priorities to create worthwhile and meaningful forms of communication.


Group 2

First things first 2000
Adbusters 

-Consumerism had developed

-Grown and the situation has got worse

-Change of tone - more pressing

-Anti-consumerism

-Self perpetuating system

-politicisation 

-Redraft 

-A call to action

-Charity/education/design activism 


Group 3 
R. Poyner 

-Consumer system developed 

-Political activist

-Synergy between advertising and design
lack of diversity in design

-Still of relevance

-Style of substance

- Co-opted 'radical voices'

-Democracy


Group 4
Michael Bierut 2007

-Who could be against this?

-Techniques and apparatus of advertising?

-Persuasion

-Designers as stylists for hire 

-What makes dog biscuits unworthy

-Over empathised the role of graphic design

-What happened if designers opt-out?

-Manifestos are simple, life is complex

-make manifestos more meaningful