# First Things First 1964 manifesto

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The **First Things First** manifesto was written 29 November 1963 and published in 1964 by [Ken Garland](/source/Ken_Garland). It was backed by over 400 graphic designers and artists and also received the backing of [Tony Benn](/source/Tony_Benn), radical left-wing MP and activist, who published it in its entirety in *[The Guardian](/source/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](/source/Critical_theory), the [Frankfurt School](/source/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 [Humanist](/source/Humanism) dimension to graphic design theory. It was later updated and republished with a new group of signatories as the [First Things First 2000 manifesto](/source/First_Things_First_2000_manifesto).

## External links

- [Text of the First Things First manifesto on Design is History](http://www.designishistory.com/1960/first-things-first/)

- [Published writing by Ken Garland](https://web.archive.org/web/20070707024112/http://www.kengarland.co.uk/KG%20published%20writing/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [First Things First 1964 manifesto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Things_First_1964_manifesto) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Things_First_1964_manifesto?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.