A manifesto is a declaration of intent — often the intent to bring radical change to the world. Throughout history, many art movements have written manifestos, and it’s always a sign that things have gotten real.
OBELISK – Art Manifestos Defining new realities
Overview
In class we read some manifestos from early avant-garde artists-writers-designers from the early 20th century and more recent manifestos. Exploring issues of form and function, these designers aimed to supplant previous conventions and build new world orders. Consider how political and economic power can be expressed through graphic design and how mass communication can influence society.
Compose your Design Manifesto!
Compose your Design Manifesto in the style of Avant-Garde artists and designers. This exercise will also help you to start thinking about your research project and what matters to you; what drives you. Be poetic/abstract, but clear enough that we can get the idea or re-imagine passages from the manifestos your just read.
You might also look at other manifestoes for inspiration, such as:
- A Designer’s Code of Ethics
- Manifestos: A Manifesto: The 10 traits of effective public declarations
- Collection of Design Manifestos from Design Manifestos
- Art Manifestos from Art History Project
Please include the following in your Manifesto…
- Use short declarative statements in a list to define the philosophy, intentions, and requirements for the designer of today.
- State the social, political, and ethical ideas that are important to you and necessary for a designer to consider.
- Identify the technological concerns that designers must embrace or reject.
Share & Comment
Add your manifesto in a comment in this Discussion post by Wednesday evening. If you prefer to create visual or video of your Manifesto, you can link to a URL, image, or video.
Using a nested comment, comment on at least one of your colleagues’ Manifestos.
RR5
A Healthy Designer’s Manifesto
tend the client • put your hands in the soil • walk in the wilds • play every day • get off the screens sometimes for several hours • say yes more often, maybe also say no more often • good design for humans is human centered, user centered • assumptions are not a kindness, try asking • eat fungi, algae, herbs, spices, wild things • ask for help, but try it yourself first so you’ll know how to receive help • chill • good enough is good enough • try to stay a few pages ahead • only work with the nice people •
let people work from home for the same wages • try hard, stick with it • ask why • communicate early and often • font wisely • learn to speak another language • prune plants, guest lists, words • probably make it bigger • take care of animals, plants, people • to see better, try black and white, or a photo, or draw it • what might it sound like? • learn how to ask better questions • context is everything • take pictures you can use, or that are beautiful, or that mean something to you • fucking vote •
learn to play an instrument • get good sleep, real rest • take more pictures, look at them, edit, and order them • take a 20 min epsom bath • good design considers audience, safety, & accessibility • have a routine • contemplate clarity, texture, light, aroma, sound, time, falling, flying • hit the workout you know you like a little bit and more often • figure out how you want to work • ask yourself what success means to you • pick a vacation, plan it and go • teach something regularly • go ways you are not used to going • what happened right before? right after? • learn something so challenging it’s uncomfortable for a while and do it anyway • find out what is more interesting about someone than the obvious • tell someone something genuinely nice about them • probably do things sooner than later, but always follow your gut •
having a smart, well-trained dog while kids are little is fantastic • some argue both cats and prayers are necessary, so far so good • forgive yourself when you forgive someone else, set them free in your mind, with blessings • don’t hold back in design, business, or relationships • try to hear the message • plan for contingencies • care for a tree • try to keep your feet, teeth and eyes in good shape • digital worker, arise and walk! • play big • care for elders and old things • take the stairs when possible • read fiction and non-fiction •
fight for the good ideas using strategy • have a line you don’t cross, even for money • say something • play with materials to get insights from their functions • keep up with code • use your powers for good • give yourself leeway, build it in • feel breezes, sunlight, sap, flowers • it’s all made up • why not you? • stay sharp • let LOVE guide you
Miranda, appreciate your healthy designer manifesto! definitely a good reminder of noticing what’s around us.
Designer’s Manifesto
The Mindful Manifesto
the mindful designer
Internet Culture Manifesto
Slow and steady wins the race? Yea I’ve bet you’ve heard that before, but when you actually think about it makes sense. When you want to create or think of an idea you want to show for a project, you have it in your head and planned out into action but the first attempt is not the best, ok so you try again the 2nd attempt with barely any results, so you try for the third attempt but you messed that one up to and now your getting stressed out and starting to quit.
This is it, this is the problem that stops many people from succeeding. It’s hard. I know trust me, I’ve been there before and it’s not the best feeling in the world, but you have to go through that phase to be successful. You need to fail a couple of times in order to get what you want. It’s a form of life and success, failure is needed for success to appear, it’s at a certain cost of trial and error through design that we have to deal with as creative individuals.
Sonali,:D Great List. Especially “Create your own place in the world.” <3
Manifesto:
Competitive/Different Designer Manifesto:
Artist/Illustrator/Animation/Designer
Malika’s Designer Manifesto:
Every Designer’s Essential Manifesto
A designer’s Manifesto
Designer Manifesto