Milton Glazer rambles a bit but some good points. I prefer shorter more to the point manifestos.
Paul Jarvis For clients, for education. Concise and to the point.
Tibor Kalman sounds like he was desperate when it was written, definitely a cry from the heart. Then I read about him. He sounded like a really interesting person who worked authenticaly to his beliefs. Some really interesting thought provoking quotes here
Stella McCartney short and general but the sparseness means that the reader has to think and do some of the work/interpretation. The most recent I have found so far
Grayson Perry sort of stating the obvious, or certainly not saying anything very radical but I love Grayson Perry and I love the way this is presented as a half doodle.
Paul Bowman ‘Shine a light on the world / expose injustice / help promote understanding / comment on the world around us’.
Fraser Muggeridge Studio but I don't like the typography, its busy, disjointed and random
Temujin Doran I don't think that he has anything much to say here but he says it so beautifully and illustrates it so nicely I don't care. He apparently fails to cover any of Paul Bowmans criteria but I am captivated particularly by this image:
Is this more fine art than illustration? It says something about joy and that's a good way to engage an audience. A Scandinavian Design Council Manifesto on Nature, Ecology and Human Needs for the Future Clear, simple and direct. This also feels authentic, I want to believe that the authors are already doing what they manifest, not just aspiring to it.
Urbansketchers Manifesto This is for a not for profit group rather than an individual. It's more a set of simple rules for participants in the free sketchcrawl events to follow. It both encourages creativity and stifles it. For example point 4 says: "We are truthful to the scenes we witness", but truth depends on the perspective of the viewer and reportage drawing is about selecting what to include and what to leave out. Strictly speaking the rules are broken if an artist applies colour at home after the event, however it encourages inclusiveness and participation at all levels and abilities, and honest representation.
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Drawn to medicine: from a creative sketchbook workshop that she ran last week
1. To map the contextual, political and social landscape, and not shy away from the dark, or the light.
2. To use colour, inspired by the abstract expressionists, to map states of emotion, play, love and vulnerability.
3. To use printmaking, iteration and error to show the layers of possible meaning - the flux of words, states and emotions.
4. To have a beginners mind - Art as Introduction.
5. To make each day in my sketchbooks.
Does this still count? It's also number 11 but I'm leaving it here because it's a reference for me.
There's a danger making sketchbooks into artists books or finished works of art (especially as a student when you know that you will need to submit them for assessment). This is a reminder that at their best they are a place of exploration and discovery.
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First things first
I'm not sure about the concept of public manifestos in general and First things first specifically.
There's a lot of talk, demands and posturing but unless it is backed up by action, it's like the worse aspects of a committee. First things first is asking for major changes in society, changes that are desirable, but I can't see that they will happen just as a result of a published declaration. I can't offer a simple way to create the changes needed but the persuasive skills of the signatories need to be directed to the engine of change, not just declaring that they don't like the current status quo. To be fair the original declaration was a call to action (which has apparently failed to make significant change) the follow up declarations are just saying me too, but not offering any insight on how they propose to action the changes that they seek.
The signatories are all successful practitioners, it's easier for them to make grand declarations, secure in the knowledge that they have a client base, an income and hopefully some savings, than it is for a new graduate who needs to secure that all important first commission. My perspective is as someone who has an income outside of the design world and can choose work that fits with my values, it's not as easy for someone who needs to forge a career in design to support themselves, they have to take what work is available even if they don't believe in its morals.
Discussion
Moving away from First things first, manifestos, when published, seem a bit self satisfied and potentially a way to limit creativity rather than promote it. (Though as a student I'm grateful that some designers have shared their manifestos so that I can criticise them....)
We all have core values that aren't negotiable and I can see the value in making a list of these and periodically checking your work to see if you are staying true to them. Some published manifestos seem a bit idealistic and unrealistic. It's great to have something to aim to but many feel a bit like showing off. Others are a veiled way of grumbling about clients, a sort of passive aggressive terms of business (
Tibor Kalman Fraser Muggeridge ). A good manifesto does need to be a way of opening up ideas and possibilities not closing them down. There is a danger that the creator uses their manifesto as a set of rules and stays within these boundaries. I guess that they need to be revisited periodically to check that the artist/designer hasn't moved on from an earlier stated viewpoint and needs to make changes.
I think that they need to be kept clear simple and realistic. In the best ones I feel that the writer(s) are stating what they actually do or don't do, not what they aspire to (
Scandinavian Design Council). Also I'm not sure that if an artists personal statement is well crafted, a manifesto adds much to it but I'm prepared to have my opinion changed.
Having trouble with the links in the course notes but found
The Idler Manifesto which is great and subversive. Though I wonder if the writers/publishers are able to follow their own advice....
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