The First Things First manifesto, written in 1963 and published in 1964 by Ken Garland and signed by 20 other creatives, was born out of the growing frustrations in the 60s of these designers, photographers and students who saw more and more advertising of products that they considered a waste of time and efforts. It criticised the industry of wasting time on trivial purposes which contributed little or nothing to national prosperity.
They wanted to make sure that they used their skills and experience on more worthy projects, focusing more on education and public services which would help promote our culture and a greater awareness of the world.
When I started this assignment on ‘critical anaylysis’, I wasn’t sure where I could go. I needed something that I was passionate about, and while I love designing, I didn’t have anything I felt I wanted to discuss. Then, while exploring my keyword of “Mission” for my FAT 1 project, I started looking at designers manifestoes. I had heard of Ken Garland’s ‘First Things First’ manifesto, but I hadn’t truly ‘felt’ it, until now.
At 33, Ken Garland was a young graphic designer when in 1963, during the period of the growth of consumer society he became disillusioned with what he called “the high pitched scream of consumer selling”. He wrote his manifesto and titled it ‘First Things First’. In it, he condemned the industry he was a part of and signed it together with 20 other designers, photographers and students who saw more and more advertising of products that they considered a waste of time and efforts.
These creatives were disappointed that the greatest time and effort of those working in the advertising industry were being wasted on trivial purposes which contributed little or nothing to national prosperity.
Garland and his colleagues wanted to use their skills and experience on more worthy projects than stomach powders and hair restorer. Garland argued that there were other deserving projects such as signs for streets and buildings, books, instruction manuals, photography and educational aids through which they could promote their trade, education, culture and a greater awareness of the world. To many, it was an important message and served as inspiration.
Not everyone was receptive to the idea, however. After ‘First Things First’ was published in January of 1964, Ken Garland was taken out to lunch by one of his clients. He tells the story of the client’s response to the manifesto. The client accused him of being a bit irresponsible and hoped that it would not frighten off some of his clients. Garland never saw that client again, although most of his clients were unfazed by the manifesto.
The challenge that Garland threw down over 50 years ago is still relevant today. Indeed, as Rick Poyner put it in the turn of this century, “that brief message is possibly more urgent than ever; the situation it lamented incalculably more extreme.” . In 1999, Jonathan Barnbrook and 32 other creatives (including Ken Garland) signed the ‘First Things First Manifesto 2000’, citing “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.” .
And sadly nearly 20 years later, how much more severe is the pollution on our souls of the current advertising industry?
I can relate to the epiphany that Garland had in 1963. In 2011 I was working in the home entertainment industry. The work was glamorous and exciting, but it wasn’t essential. Whatever the cover of the DVD case looked like, the film inside the case wasn’t affected. Sure, an attractive cover could help sell a dull movie, but the reality was the main body of work remained unaffected. “Never judge a book by its cover” is an old saying, but people do, which is why the work was there to do.
I took the chance when it came to travel to Nepal and help the United Mission to Nepal (UMN), an international development agency, update their corporate image. I designed a new logo, created helpful diagrams and infographics, and helped to improve the layout of their quarterly magazine which went out to supporters. But more than this, I travelled around the country, and I saw projects that this organisation, along with local partners, were doing to help improve the lives of those people who most needed it. I visited a small village where everybody, women and children, were living with HIV & Aids. The men were gone, either dead or had left. The extended community had shunned these people, but UMN were there, providing them with goats and training them so they could earn a wage.
The work I did at UMN made me feel something I hadn’t felt in years, if I’d ever really felt it. I wasn’t an engineer or a doctor. I couldn’t physically help these people myself, but by working with UMN, to try and build a better brand image, in a small way I could make a difference.
This is not to say that the work Garland and his colleagues reprimanded isn’t still necessary. Even in the original manifesto, Garland notes that they did not advocate the abolition of high-pressure advertising. This would not be feasible, nor did they want to take the fun out of life. In 1994, Andrew Howard took the authors of the First Things First manifesto to task over this, saying that they had sold out. And to some extent, Ken Garland agreed with him, stating that over the years he had some qualms about the pragmatic flavour of that part of the manifesto. But he adds, “This personality split has served me well enough over the last 30 years, providing me with a reasonable, if modest, living on the one hand, and a reasonably clear, if not overstrained, conscience on the other.”.
In 2012, at the age of 82, Ken Garland chose to address once again a point raised out of the original manifesto. There was no acknowledgement of the positive, creative part that could be played by the right kind of client.
If I were a more influential designer, I would like to reiterate some of the thoughts that have been spoken in the various incarnations of the ‘First Things First’ manifesto. Not to take the fun out of our world, but that graphic design could give back to the world in a positive lasting way. Through education, health, environment, disaster relief work, and many of the other worthy causes around the world today.
That’s something I could put my name to!
