First Things First 1964 Manifesto

Is advertising really the best way to utilize the talents and time of professionally trained designers and photographers? Can a consumer society ever reach a point where advertising reaches its end? Is it possible to make value judgments on the work we do or the things we consume? Can one job, say designing the cover to a diet book, be any less respectable then another job of designing a math book for 6Th graders?

In the 1964 First Things First Manifesto, the point is made to me that its not an all or nothing scenario. But some form of balance or at the least, a shift in priority over high pressure consumer advertising must occur.

I feel like there is a shift in the utilization of design talent. Consumers are become more educated and more sophisticated in what they like. Clothes, furniture, movies, music, art, architecture and so on are all growing at many levels. The only problem and that's if you think its a problem, is that as consumer markets of the world become more interconnected, more aggressive mass advertising will occur.

I should back up. The real problem in my mind is this. 100 years ago our world had about 1.5 billion people. Today, we have over 6.5 billion humans on this Earth. I think the real problem is that we have too many people to sell stuff to. For instance, World wide this year, 233,344,500 and counting computers have been sold, 42,402,810 cars have been produced, 89,025,400 bikes have been made, 10,369,177,000 movie visitors, 4,283,293,400 Tons of food has been produced, and over 27.7 billion dollars has been spent on dieting in the US alone to date this year.

My point is that we produce and consume a lot! I'm not inferring that consumption is equal for every person on the planet, but I'm saying we have a lot of people to put to work. People that need jobs and hence become consumers themselves.

As long as people have enough money (whether they actually have cash or its credit) they will want things. And as long as people have jobs, products and services will be available for consumers to purchase.

I believe as consumers become more educated about the goods and services they are purchasing they will demand better and more sophisticated designed goods. Its only been since the 1950s that modern advertising and the concept new has come about. And its a two way process, designers have to lead the way and persuade consumers that good design is worth their money. All those things mentioned in the manifesto as more noble effort: (street signs, buildings, books & periodicals, educational aids and so forth) are all part of the consumer market.

FYI: As a World, we have emitted over 18.2 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide this year. As designers, we need to develop sustainable solutions from the beginning. Can this material in one product after its used up be safely reused in some other product?