exercise 4

• A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government.

 I am aware that a lot is wrong with society and therefore – with market and media. Designers are encouraged to continue producing monotonous designs because people are used to them and do not like change. Nobody cares what designers really want to do with their skills and therefore – careers.  In The first things first manifesto, they talk about the field of design and that the forms of communication in media and advertising has increased throughout the years. They make us aware of the fact that we don't pay enough attention to the impact design has on society. Even though the First things First Manifesto was originally created   in 1964 the statements made in it still stand true to this day. Although the design process has changed through the years, theses issues are still the same. Society needs to realise the importance of design and how it can effectively help change perceptions and make a positive difference in the world - The designer has the power to inform and make people think, thus the power to make change. Society doesn't care about the problems that are mentioned in The First Things First manifesto - a change of mindset is needed. The manifesto can be perceived as a distress call of sorts, the writer pleads with the viewer after alerting them to the dangers that exist in society.

"As visual communicators we are only focused on meeting the demands of advertising. What about designing things that are worthy and have value and meaning in them? " - http://kristinamallen.blogspot.com/2009/05/first-things-first-manifesto-2000.html 

Bruce Mau's manifesto (An Incomplete manifesto of Growth)  details his beliefs, strategies, motivations and outlines his design process. The manifesto is set up as a set of guidelines in point form, like a set of rules perhaps. The manifesto is not poetic like many other manifesto's but straight forward. The manifesto speaks of growth in many forms, that growth happens all the time and that one must be willing to grow - learn. Designers must be willing to grow, adapt and change as the industry requires and changes itself. I agree and enjoy this manifesto because the author explains each statement making it easy to understand - he encourages change and growth which as a designer is inspiring - one can be more, can push and achieve more.the author  also reinforces the importance of growth as a designer by in fact leaving his own manifesto ‘incomplete’, therefore leaving room for growth and improvement

• Other manifesto's that have similar ideals and goals are Conditional Design -http://conditionaldesign.org/manifesto/. The reason I chose this one is due to the fact that it may be somewhat a polar opposite to Bruce Mau's manifesto, it still identifies the importance of process . Conditional design manifesto looks at design as a logical process, whereas Mau's manifesto looks at a more emotional aspect of design, then he goes on to detail the logical and process based aspects of design.  
  Ten Principles for Good Design by Dieter Rams is another manifesto that works well in communicating a similar message as First Things First Manifesto.This beautifully designed manifesto is sure to delight. It’s to the point, clean, and literally practices what it preaches. It’s so sparse and minimalist, it can also be read as a kind of new-wave spiritual guide on how to live your life, which is you know, handy. - http://blog.redbubble.com/2013/10/11-design-manifestos-you-must-read-today/

• The Importance of a manifesto - A manifesto is somewhat like an election promise - The writer declares their intentions and how they intend on going about achieving this - or rather what needs to be done in order to achieve this. like an election promise the writer declares that should  the reader (in this case a the designer) do as they have outlined in their manifesto then the result will be X. However there are of course differences. A manifesto accepts a previous opinion then builds on that opinion, for example: That society is too focused on consumerism, declared in Dada Manifesto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Manifesto) and again in First Things First Manifesto(http://maxbruinsma.nl/index1.html?ftf2000.htm).