first thing first manifesto, 2000

 

the FTFM, launched by Adbusters, is a document of purpose of a generation of designers talking about concerns and priorities of the profession for the twenty-first century. the 34 signatories are amongst the most respected of the profession.   

click here for the full text of the manifesto, and list of signatories.

There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help.

We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication -a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design.