Ken Garland and First Things First

First Things First was a manifesto published in 1964 by Ken Garland, and signed by 20 graphic designers and photographers and students. It got a lot of international publicity, and, whether or not its commitments were kept by all who signed or sympathised, it established an ethical question that continues to this day. At various times it’s been updated and signed by further sets of prominent designers.¹ 60 years have gone by and it’s still as relevant, although the emphasis has changed (it’s greener).

As design critic Rick Poyner puts it:

The critical distinction drawn by the manifesto was between design as communication (giving people necessary information) and design as persuasion (trying to get them to buy things).²

Reading it today, it’s clearly a manifesto for information design. It contrasts the trivial stuff that designers found themselves promoting (cat food, striped toothpaste, cigarettes) with ‘other things more worth using our skill and experience on’.

These other things were ‘signs for streets and buildings, books and periodicals, catalogues, instructional manuals’ and other useful products. Information, in other words.

It’s a commitment Ken kept to, and his teaching at Reading University sent me in the direction of information design when I left.

Rick Poyner again:

Design’s love affair with form to the exclusion of almost everything else lies at the heart of the problem.

Design’s love affair with form is catching. Anyone who wants to do information design mustn’t forget that it’s about substance not prettiness.

1. Rick Poynor (2021) The Evolving Legacy of Ken Garland’s First Things First Manifesto, AIGA Eye on Design

2. Rick Poynor (1999) First Things First Revisited, Emigre 51.