Manifesto – Description

My Manifesto describes how I feel about my own design work, when I’m creating it, how I might be influenced, and my general thoughts on other work in relation to my own. I researched three other manifestos and tried my hand at replicating one of them in order to get ideas on how to create my manifesto. These were Ken Garland’s “First Things First”, Dieter Rams’ “10 Principles of a Good Design”, and Claes Oldenburg’s “I Am for an Art”.

Oldenburg’s manifesto inspired my own the most, as it read a lot like a poem with the repetition, something I tried to replicate to a degree. I structured the text to form the word “Design” since it links directly with the title, “This Is My Design”, and is also quite effective visually.

My Manifesto: This Is My Design

Manifesto Text:

 

This Is My Design

 

It is something to enjoy, and something to think about.

It is something to rework time and time again until in my eyes, it is perfect.

I lose myself in the process of creating it, and in the process of viewing it.

It is unique to me because I did it, and you did not.

It brings me satisfaction not just because it pleases my eye, but because I know that I caused it.

It was my hand that drew this line, and it was my head that put it here.

Yours is the design I like, but mine is the design I love. Not necessarily because I think it may be better, only because it is mine.

I study the work of others not only for pleasure, but in order to better my own.

It will never be entirely original, though it will never exist until I make it.

Its purpose is to hold a message, not only to look nice.

If I like it, it’s a good start. If you like it, it’s a success.

Your reaction to it is important to me as it is vital to its improvement, and therefore my own.

Your design inspires me, my design defines me.

 

We are all artists, but this is my design.

Manifesto Review: I Am for an Art

Claes Oldenburg is an American sculptor, most famous for his public art installations which were usually large scale replicas of everyday objects. He was and still is a postmodern artist, which his most famous writing (written in 1961) “I Am for An Art” reflects quite well. Whilst it is considered by many to be a manifesto, Oldenburg insists that it isn’t. He describes it as a “slightly satirical ode or paean to the possibilities of using anything in one’s surroundings as a starting point for art, the art movement that came to be known as New Realism or Pop Art.”

The writing is littered with metaphors and personification, such as “I am for an art… that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum” and “I am for art that limps and rolls and runs and jumps.” It also repeats the words “I am for an Art” for almost every line. All these things make it read much like a poem, in stark contrast with Dieter Rams’ ten principles. Comparing these two clearly highlights the divide between postmodernism and modernism. The modernist Dieter Rams’ writing being quite serious with a clear structure, and Oldenburg’s being light-hearted and comical.

This writing, as you would expect it to be, seems like a clear reflection of Oldenburg’s own work, it typically consisting of large scale sculptures of everyday objects as previously mentioned. These lines, “I am for the art of cheap plaster and enamel” and “I am for the art of teddy bears and guns”, clearly show this. A lot of his work is absurd and silly, like his piece “dropped cone”, which depicted a large ice cream cone dropped onto the edge of the top of a building. Again, this absurdity makes its way into his manifesto. These examples show this, “I am for the art of clicking among the nuts when the roaches come and go” and “I am for the art of underwear and the art of taxicabs.” He also calls dog turds majestic, another prime example of absurdity. All this silliness does add a layer of comedy that undoubtedly makes this a more entertaining read than it otherwise would’ve been, in my opinion.

The writing ends with a long list naming many different, seemingly random things, each right after the other, and even then the whole thing ends indefinitely with an ellipses. It strikes me as saying that it is endless, which harkens back to Oldenburg’s own description of this piece, an “ode or paean to the possibilities of using anything in one’s surroundings as a starting point for art”.

Overall, “I Am for An Art” is an enjoyable read, and enlightening, to a degree, of just how many possible avenues for art there really are. A seemingly endless number.

Manifesto Review: 10 Principles of Good Design

After studying and graduating in architecture and interior decoration in 1953 he first began working for “Otto Apel”, an architect based in Frankfurt. In 1955 he was hired by Braun, where he would stay for the next 40 years, becoming Chief Designer in 1961. His work, which very much adhered to his 10 principles and were renowned for their user friendliness and clean aesthetic, helped Braun become a household name in the 1950s.

Dieter Rams came up with his “10 principles of good design” in the 1970s after introducing the idea of sustainable development, calling obsolescence a crime in design. This is in reference to planned obsolescence where products are built to fail after a certain amount of time in order to warrant more consumer purchases. I can imagine that many would agree with Rams here. Though it’s clear that product obsolescence is inevitable, I would agree that intentionally shortening the lifetime of a product seems quite insidious. In any case, Rams’ overarching point is sustainability, designing products to last as long as possible. Many of his 10 principles feed into that point, the most blunt of which being point number 7, “good design is long lasting”. These 10 principles, along with Rams’ own design work, have greatly influenced much of the designs we see today. Jonathan Ive and his ipod design for example, a product so very clearly influenced by the work of Dieter Rams with its simplistic geometric design and intuitive user interface.

Dieter Rams is a modernist designer, many of his principles and products adhering to contemporary, simplistic and functional design. Rams agrees with the famous principle of modernist architecture “form follows function” to an extent, saying in an interview with designboom.com, “Yes, form has to come after function, I can’t conceive of it in any other way. There are certainly psychological functions as well, it is a matter of balancing the aesthetic content with regard to use.” This touches on his 3^rd principle “good design is aesthetic”, where he says that in order for a design to be aesthetically beautiful it must be functional, as “only well-executed objects can be beautiful.”

I think Dieter Ram’s 10 principles do an excellent job of outlining exactly what makes a good design. Overall there is nothing I can find to disagree with here, and I feel this manifesto has broadened my view of what a manifesto can be, this being more of a “top ten” list than an essay. I may try and experiment with the format of my own manifesto in a similar way or do something entirely different.

Manifesto Review: First Things First

Ken Garland’s “First Things First” manifesto was written in December 1963 and published shortly after in January 1964. Garland was and still is a well-known Graphic Designer, and while I had heard of him prior to this task I have never really studied any of his work. Upon doing so with this manifesto, I found that it is, in my opinion, hard to argue with the view he holds in regards to the issue presented in the writing. Garland studied design at “London’s Central School of Arts and Crafts” and went on to founder his studio, “Ken Garland & Associates” in 1962.

This manifesto was written at a time when the British economy was booming, which gives context to the issue Garland raises in this text. That issue, in short, is that so much creative talent is wasted on shallow advertising for trivial purposes such as “cat foods, stomach powders, detergent, hair restorer…”, rather than being put to use contributing to our “national prosperity”. This issue is also summed up in the text itself, saying “By far the greatest effort of those working in the advertising industry are wasted on these trivial purposes”. It is clear that Garland believes that commercialism is wrongly prioritised by the creative arts over promoting more meaningful purposes like “our education, our culture and our greater awareness of the world.” He also writes that “we” referring to designers as a whole, have reached a “saturation point at which the high pitched scream of consumer selling is no more than sheer noise”, using quite a strong metaphor to get this point across and furthering his belief that a shallow use of art and design in consumerism has grown way too large and so numbingly pointless. Whilst it seems that he strongly disapproves of this practice, he later writes that he doesn’t “advocate the abolition of high pressure consumer advertising”, explaining that it isn’t feasible and that it would “take the fun out of life”. Instead he argues that the focus should be redirected to more purposeful endeavours, in his words “a reversal of priorities in favour of the more useful and more lasting forms of communication”.

This manifesto seems quite short to me, and while a manifesto isn’t exactly restricted to a word count I was previously of the illusion that they were generally massively long texts. This manifesto is more of a short, powerful statement which I feel works quite well. It’s also interesting how Garland chose to use “we” instead of “I” which gives the impression that many share the same opinion, which is most likely true, and makes his point hold that much more weight.

I find it quite easy to relate to what Garland is saying in this manifesto as the same commercialism and advertising for trivial purposes is still prevalent in the world of today, half a century later. Overall this was an interesting read for me and I don’t disagree with anything being said here and can’t really think of a counter-argument, though viewing one could also be interesting.

Claes Oldenburg Manifesto Task

I am for a Design that is clear and direct, immediately pleasing and enjoyable.
I am for a Design that raises questions, promoting interactive thought in answering them.
I am for a Design that innovates and evolves, constantly changing but also mirroring what came before it.
I am for a Design of compilation, taking existing ideas and using them together, often creating something different entirely.
I am for a Design of both simplicity and complexity.
I am for Design that grows just like everything else, beginning, changing, imitating, innovating, and ending.
I am for immortal Design, a symbol that never dies and is always recognisable.
I am for Design that makes me pause for a look.
I am for a Design that I am proud to own and Design that I am proud to create.
I am for a Design I feel obliged to pay for.
I am for Design that encourages me to better my own work.
I am for Designs varying from black to white and to grey.
I am for influential Design, Design that inspires me and gives me ideas where I previously had none.
I am for Design that no one appreciates until it’s gone.
I am for Design that defines a genre, and for Design that adds depth to things otherwise shallow.
I am for Design that no one ever forgets, Design that we can all understand and use to link us even to our opposites.
I am for Design that is universal, a language anyone can interpret in any culture.
I am for Design that defines a country or a fictional world or place.
I am for Design that provokes thought, memories and emotion.
I am for Design that displays a narrative.
I am for a Design that makes a statement or raises an issue, motivating people to do something about it.

(We were tasked with recreating Oldenburg’s manifesto in our own words.)