The First Things First 2000 manifesto, launched by '' Adbusters'' magazine in 1999, was an updated version of the earlier First Things First manifesto written and published in 1964 by Ken Garland, a British designer. The 1999 manifesto was signed by a group of 33 figures from the international graphic design community, many of them well known, and simultaneously published in ''Adbusters'' (Canada), ''Emigre'' ( Issue 51) and '' AIGA Journal of Graphic Design'' (United States), ''Eye'' magazine no. 33 vol. 8, Autumn 1999, ''Blueprint'' (Britain) and ''Items'' (Netherlands). The manifesto was subsequently published in many other magazines and books around the world, sometimes in translation. Its aim was to generate discussion about the

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

profession's priorities in the design press and at design schools. Some designers welcomed this attempt to reopen the debate, while others rejected the manifesto. The question of value-free design has been continually contested in the graphic design community between those who are concerned about the need for values in design and those who believe it should be value-free. Those who believe that design ''can'' be free from values reject the idea that graphic designers should concern themselves with underlying political questions. Those who are concerned about values believe that designers should be critical and take a stand in their choice of work, for instance by not promoting industries and products perceived to be harmful. Examples of projects that might be classified as unacceptable include many forms of advertising and designs for cigarette manufacturers, arms companies and so on. ''Adbusters'' has been a significant outlet for these ideas, especially in its commitment to detournement and culture jamming.

Thirty-three signers

Jonathan Barnbrook Jonathan Barnbrook (born 1966) is a British graphic designer, film maker and typographer. He trained at Saint Martin's School of Art and at the Royal College of Art, both in London. Work Barnbrook designed the cover artwork of David Bowie's ...

* Nick Bell * Andrew Blauvelt * Hans Bockting * Irma Boom * Sheila Levrant de Bretteville * Max Bruinsma * Domenico Catapano * Siân Cook * Linda van Deursen * Chris Dixon * William Drenttel * Gert Dumbar * Simon Esterson * Vince Frost * Ken Garland * Milton Glaser *

Jessica Helfand Jessica Helfand (born 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an artist, writer, and designer. A founding editor of the Design Observer, she is the author of numerous books on visual and cultural criticism. Early life and education Born in Philad ...

* Steven Heller * Andrew Howard * Tibor Kalman * Jeffery Keedy *

Zuzana Licko Zuzana Licko (born Zuzana Ličko, 1961) is a Slovak-born American Type design, type designer and visual artist known for co-founding Emigre (type foundry), Emigre Fonts, a digital type foundry in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, CA. She has design ...

* Ellen Lupton * Katherine McCoy * Armand Mevis * J. Abbott Miller * Rick Poynor * Lucienne Roberts * Erik Spiekermann * Jan van Toorn * Teal Triggs * Rudy VanderLans * Bob Wilkinson

Notes

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External links

Text of the Manifesto

''Emigre Issue'' 51: First Things First

''Adbusters'' report on the Manifesto

Text of the manifesto, published in ''Eye'' no. 33 vol. 8, Autumn 1999
followed by a short article.
Andrew Howard’s article ‘There is such a thing as society’
from ''Eye'' no. 13 vol. 4.
Published writing from Ken Garland’s website.

A short critique of the manifesto by Jan Michl
"The First Things First manifesto and the Politics of Culture Jamming"
A scholarly article by Matt Soar, published in the journal ''Cultural Studies 16''(4), 2002. Graphic design Art manifestos 2000 documents