OUGD501: Context of Practice - First Things First Task

There have been a number of authors that have considered the role of a designer within Advertising,  Garland, K. 'First Things First Manifesto' (1964), Poyner, Lasn et al (2000) 'The First Things First Manifesto 2000', Poyner, R (2000) 'First Things First Revisited' and Beirut, M. (2007) 'Ten Footnotes to a Manifesto' have all commented on the consumerist culture and the role of a designer in promoting items that are unnecessary and unethical.

Garland highlights his disappointment in designers ‘applauding the work of those who have flogged their skill and imagination to sell such things as; cat food, stomach powders, detergent, hair restorer, striped toothpaste, aftershave lotion, berforeshave lotion, slimming diets, fattening diets, deodrants, fizzy water, cigarettes, roll-ons, pull-ons and slip-ons’ (Garland, K. 1964) here Garland lists items that do not have a set purpose or function, he believes that designers are giving into consumer culture and have ‘sold their soul’ to make money. Similarly, Poyner, R (2000) states that ‘ commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do.’ (Poyner, R. 2000) given the 26 year gap between both manifestos it is clear that consumerism is continuing to grow and more designers are beginning to abandon their ethical beliefs for money.

An example of this is shown in the advertisement for Viceroys cigarettes (fig1). The tagline reads ‘as your dentist I would recommend Viceroys’ this goes against any ethical beliefs that a designer might have had as cigarettes are not healthy and can seriously damage a persons health. By using an image of a dentist this advertisement sends a negative message to consumers that smoking is good for you. Bierut said ‘and in the ecosystem of the design disciplines, graphic designers have long dwelled at the bottom of the pond’ Bierut, M. (2007) this states that no matter how much good one designer tries to do, there will always be a group of other designers ready to abandon their ethical beliefs for a campaign with a huge company that exploits peoples health and wellbeing. A contrasting argument to this would is shown in the advert for cancer patients, figure 2. In this advertisement a shocking image shows an adult laid on a table with a small child inbetween them. By using an image like this the ethics of smoking has been reinstated and correctly represented. Poyner, R said ‘the imbalance identified by First Things First is greater than ever. The vast majority of design projects and certainly the most lavishly funded and widely disseminated – address corporate needs, a massive over-emphasis on the commercial sector of society, which consumes most of graphic designers’ time, skills and creativity’ (Poyner, R. 2000) this further highlights the argument that commercial companies have begun to exploit a designer and remove their ethical beliefs to sell products that are bad.