The '''First Things First''' manifesto was written 29 November 1963 and published in 1964 by [[Ken Garland]]. It was backed by over 400 graphic designers and artists and also received the backing of [[Tony Benn]], radical left-wing MP and activist, who published it in its entirety in ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper.
Reacting against a rich and affluent Britain of the 1960s, it tried to re-radicalize a design industry which the signatories felt had become lazy and uncritical. Drawing on ideas shared by [[critical theory]], the [[Frankfurt School]], and the counter-culture of the time, it explicitly reaffirmed the belief that design is not a neutral, value-free process.
It rallied against the consumerist culture that was purely concerned with buying and selling things and tried to highlight a [[Humanism|Humanist]] dimension to graphic design theory. It was later updated and republished with a new group of signatories as the [[First Things First 2000 manifesto]].
==External links== * [http://www.designishistory.com/1960/first-things-first/ Text of the First Things First manifesto on Design is History] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070707024112/http://www.kengarland.co.uk/KG%20published%20writing/ Published writing by Ken Garland] {{Authority control}} [[Category:Art manifestos]] [[Category:Design history]] [[Category:Graphic design]] [[Category:1964 documents]] [[Category:Frankfurt School]]
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