Analysis of the problems raised in the First Things First 2000

manifesto.
We live in a world in which advertisements and the graphic designers
of our time are engaged only in the manufacture of contemporary
reality (Poynor. R, 1999). In our world, everything is influenced by
design, such as the shape of a water bottle to the front cover of a
magazine. We cannot escape design to the point that we are almost
desensitized to the manner in which it influences our thinking. Rick
Poynor (1999) in the essay First Things First Revisited states, We
imagine that we engage directly with the content of the magazine, the
pasta sauce or perfume, but the content is always mediated by design
and its design that helps direct how it makes us feel. In 1964, Ken
Garland and other designers of the time stood up to initiate change in
the way that the time and efforts of designers was used. The manifesto
stated that designers skills were being used solely for commercial
means and they dont have time for, or dont want to use their talents
for more useful tasks such as public service announcements, street
signs or do-it-yourself manuals. In this essay I will expand of the issues
highlighted by both the 1964 and 2000 First Things First manifestos
and use two examples, one being the British Governments Dont Die
of Ignorance campaign against AIDs in 1987 created by the
advertising agency TBWA as well as the Absolut Perfection campaign
to promote Absolut Vodka in the 1980s also created by TBWA to
emphasize the points that shall be made.
When First Things First was originally written in 1964, Britains
economy was experiencing a boom. The oppression of World War II had
come to an end and every social class was better off than ever. In the
essay First Things First Revisited (Poynor. R, 1999) discussed the
technological advancements of consumer goods had begun
transforming every day life in Britain. Also mentioned is the reemergence of graphic design from the asperity of years post World War
II. During the War, four- colour printing had been exceptionally rare and
therefore young designers were eager and stimulated about the new
and exciting work that they could now produce. This description of the
1960s shows that the world of design was at a turning point and the
influx of consumer goods meant a readily available bank of source
material for any emerging designer who was eager to get their work
shown to the wider general public. Britain was thoroughly enjoying the
new way of life they were experiencing as during the War it felt as
though the rationing and poverty would never end, thus society
became materialistic due to the development of new technologies and
the ability for the social classes to afford these new luxuries.

There have been many additions to the 1964 manifesto when creating
the First Things First 2000. The first is the variety of creative
professions named in the 2000 manifesto as opposed to the 1964
version. The original, names the signatories as graphic designers,
photographers and students, implying that these subdivisions of the
creative industry were the only ones who felt that a change was
necessary. However, in the 2000 manifesto, the list is widened to
graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators,
(Barnbrook et al, 2000.) The use of the term visual communicators is
very much all encompassing to include any person that creates visual
material to communicate a message, whether that is an artist, a
photographer or an animator. I feel that this is very poignant as we can
see that the creative industry has expanded significantly since the first
manifesto was written and that many more creative professionals feel
that it is time for change.
There are a number of problems that are raised in the First Things First
manifestos, both in the original and the 2000 version. The first problem
that is brought to the readers attention is that design education is
teaching students that advertising is most successful route as it pays
the most and designers are needed in that area. In the original we can
see that this is stated by saying We the undersignedhave been
brought up in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of
advertising have been persistently presented to us as the most
lucrative, effective and desirable means of using our talent. (Garland,
K. 1964) However, students should be educated in being able to
communicate what they have to say, and communicate it well. In the
2000 version, when discussing advertising as lucrative and desirable it
states that Many design teachers and mentors promote this belief; the
market rewards it; a tide of books and publications reinforces it. From
this we can see that the modern creative industry has been brought up
almost to believe that the only real use of our talents is to make money
advertising banal and meaningless things when there is a plethora of
issues and projects that need the help of the creative to make society
better.
Another problem communicated in the First Things First 2000, is that
designers time and effort is wasted in producing pointless things,
which in turn is changing the nature of thinking in society to believe
that these things are necessary for normal life. Designers who devote
their efforts to advertisingare supporting and implicitly endorsing a
mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is
changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond
and interact. What is being discussed here is that if you are dedicating
all of your talents to the world of consumer advertising then you are

promoting a materialistic culture, which in turn will promote a

materialistic lifestyle.
The final issue raised in the 2000 manifesto is that designers should
prioritize more meaningful work over the work that will earn them
money. It is stated, there are pursuits more worthy of our problem
solving skillsmany cultural interventionsexhibitions, educational
toolscharitable causes and other information design projects
desperately need our help. The signatories are not demanding that
every visual communicator stop working in advertising immediately, as
this is not feasible. People need to make a living and as previously
mentioned, advertising is lucrative. However, they are stating that
projects such as the ones mentioned above should be the main things
designers want to do, with advertising work merely as a means to live.
This way, visual communicators will lead a more fulfilling career as well
as helping those charities, projects or not-for-profit organizations, thus
improving society as a whole.
The first example that has been chosen to support the views outlined
in both of the First Things First manifestos is the Dont Die of Ignorance
[fig.1.] campaign to promote the awareness of acquired immune
deficiency syndrome which became prevalent in the 1908s. This
example has been chosen because it demonstrates the extremely
effective use of creative individuals and designers to create an advert,
which informs society about keeping safe during sex. Although this
campaign did have a very large budget of 20 million (BFI screen
online) set aside for it the cause was for the improvement of society
rather than to promote a product that people want rather than need.
This was the first ever government sponsored AIDS awareness
campaign and soon became extremely memorable due to the shock
tactics used to inform the nation. As Jon Kelly writes for the BBC, the
message was simple, but apocalyptic- a deadly disease was a threat to
everyone, not just the small groups who had been affected by it so
far Previously, AIDS had just been thought of as a disease that
homosexuals caught and the majority of the nation didnt think that it
concerned them. Kevin Thomas the then Head of Art at TBWA says,
there really was a lot of ignorance at the time- people still saw it as a
gay disease. The television advert which is being focused on in this
essay was played at prime time evening viewing and consisted of a
mountain exploding and crumbling into dust which is followed by an
industrial drill boring into the rock face. The next piece of imagery is
that of a stonemason chiseling the word AIDS onto an enormous
tombstone. The tombstone then falls backwards and a leaflet with the
words Dont die of ignorance, printed on it falls onto the tombstone
along with a bouquet of white lilies. Throughout the film there is a

voice over informing the viewer of the risks of AIDS voiced by John
Hurt.
The second

example that has been chosen is the Absolut

perfection [fig.2]
advert to
promote
Absolut
Vodka. TBWA
produced this
advert as well as the
previously
mentioned
Dont Die

of Ignorance
campaign.
advertising

This
campaign
has been

[fig.1] Dont Die of Ignorance, TBWA,

1987

chosen as it contradicts the values that

the
First Things First manifestos were
promoting in favour of producing high
quality advertisements for seemingly
menial goods. This ad campaign was extremely successful and
managed to raise the sales of Absolut vodka in the U.S over the course
of its twenty-year reign from 10,000 cases in 1980 to 4.5 million in
2000. (Taube, A., 2013) Due to the simplicity of the concept of the
advert, TBWA were able to produce a number of adverts based on the
same idea, which quickly became popular culture for young adults.
Many artists, fashion designers and photographers also contributed to
the the Absolut bottle, for example, Andy Warhol offered to paint a
picture of the bottle for Absolut to use as one of their adverts entitled
Absolut Warhol. By including so many different variations on the
same theme it enabled the product to be more accessible and
appealing to a wider audience. The original advert, which shall be
discussed in more detail, features the Absolut vodka bottle in the
centre of the advert with a halo above it. The only words that were
used on the advert were Absolut
[fig.2] Absolut Perfection,
perfection.
Absolut Vodka, 1981

Colour is often used within design and advertising to evoke a certain

feeling or emotion from somebody. For example, green symbolises
creativity, red for love or anger and black for sadness and gloom. The
palette for the Absolut Perfection advert is very simple- black and
white with a small amount of blue on the bottle for the product name.
A black background has been used for this image, which is extremely
effective. With the circle of white light highlighting the bottle it gives
the advert a heavenly feel as though the vodka is the only light in a

world of darkness. I feel that colour, or rather the absence of colour on

this advertisement is not to create a certain atmosphere, but the
muted colour scheme has been used so as not to detract from the
overall message of the advert. Due to the simplicity of the adverts
concept, which is that any number of words can come after Absolut to
describe what the product is about, there is no need for a vibrant
colour scheme as I think that it would interfere with the overall tone
of the advertisement. Sometimes less is more. The palette of the
Dont Die of Ignorance campaign is extremely dark, using only blues
and blacks with exception of the explosion at the beginning. This
suggests that the message and content of the advert is scary or
worrying. Dr Sarah Graham also mentions the colour
palette of the film saying, Their colour palette is
very dark which suggests that something very frightening is being
portrayed. (Graham, S., 2013) This is extremely effective as the
message of this advert is about a deadly disease that the population
will not acknowledge. The use of the dark colours scares the viewer
and shocks them into listening to the information. The only use of
colour in this film is at the very
[fig.3] Still from Dont Die of
Ignorance, UK Government,
beginning to signify an explosion. With
1987
a combination of the noise and the
bright orange [fig.3.] of the fire it is almost like a starting gun at the
beginning of a race, to make people sit up and watch the rest of the
advert.
The correct composition of an image or piece of film can be one of the
most integral parts to successful design. Absolut Perfection features
the signature bottle of vodka in the very centre of the image with a
halo above and a circle of light highlighting the bottle from an all black
background. By placing the bottle in the centre of the image gives the
viewer a visual clue that this is what should be the centre of their
attention and therefore the centre of consumer attention. It signifies
that this vodka is what everyone should be talking about. The
composition of this advert is very simple as it features very few things.
I think that by leaving a lot of empty space ensures that the viewer is
not distracted by anything and only has the product to focus on.
Similarly, with the end image of the Dont Die of Ignorance campaign,
there are only three things on the screen: the tombstone which falls
down to symbolise somebody dying, the leaflet, which is full of the
information the viewer needs, and the bouquet of white lilies, which
signify that the soul of the departed has received restored innocence
after death. (Anon, n.d) I think that the inclusion of the bouquet of
lilies is very interesting as mentioned above they symbolize innocence
after death. As the majority of people who had contracted AIDS during
this time had been homosexual or involved with drugs which were
activities that were heavily frowned upon in society the designer

Sammi Harari has commented that after we die all of our sins are
removed from us so we are again innocent.
I feel that both of these examples, though produced by the same
advertising agency are very helpful in supporting or arguing against
the morals and values that the First Things First manifestos outline.
The Dont Die of Ignorance campaign was one of the most successful
government campaigns in history, which is very important as it was
used to inform as well as shocking the nation into changing their
behaviours. This supports the First Things First 2000 manifesto as it
said, there are pursuits more worthy of our problem solving skills.
Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our
attention. This campaign was for both a social and cultural crisis, as
the disease was rapidly spreading throughout different social classes
and cultural groups due to lack of knowledge and information about
keeping safe. The Absolut Perfection advertising campaign is the exact
opposite. As previously mentioned, many fashion designers and artists
were getting involved in this project to promote an alcoholic drink
merely to get their work linked with such a successful campaign. This
correlates directly with what the manifesto is saying is happening to
the creative industry, the professions time and energy is used up
manufacturing demand for things which is inessential at best. Famous
artists and designers are getting involved with a big budget high-end
campaign because of monetary incentive and recognition rather than
taking part in projects, which will improve society as a whole.
In conclusion, there have been a number of differences between the
2000 and the 2014 First Things First manifestos. The first one that can
be identified is the overwhelming sense that the creative industry,
although fast- growing is not necessarily a great place to work as
stated here: demands a debilitating work-life imbalance of its
workers, which implies that designers are expected to work all the
time, not just when in the office so to speak. Another difference that
has been identified is the use of technological terms such as creative
technologists undifferentiated apps, and disposable social
networks. This signifies that the 2014 manifesto has acknowledged
the great advancement of technology in the past 14 years, which
includes the Internet and so the variety of more meaningless projects
is much greater. Relating to this, the manifesto also discusses the need
to address changes in policies, which affect the ownership of data. Due
to the explosion of the Internet, peoples personal information can be
accessed at will if the correct laws are not put in place to do so. As
designers and communicators, the manifesto calls for us to address
this, and put a stop to the theft of identities online. I feel that the main
reason for these new additions to the First Things First 2014 manifesto

is due to the success of the internet which has enabled the creative
industry to grow bigger by use of online technology, smart phones, the
invention of apps and games, means that adverts for products are
everywhere now, even more so than in 2000. However, those who are
a part of the industry have been brought up with the understanding
that consumer advertising is what designers are to use their talents on.

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