First things First 250 word analisis

Chosen Question: Discuss the role that illustration can play during periods of political and/ or social upheaval?

Article analysis: First things first( 1964&2000).

 In the revisit of First things first, Rick Poynor in his review of the manifesto (1964-2000) said that designers should be doing more to communicate social and political issues rather than advertising for the money. ”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.)”Poynor,4,2000.  Secondly the manifesto was ignored by designers for that reason, they wanted money and didn’t give a thought to the more ethical reasons “Most preferred to keep their heads down.” Poynor,4,2000. The designers would rather produce work for the more exciting corporate brands e.g. Nike compared to CND(campaign for nuclear disarmament.) “The vast majority of design projects-and certainly the most lavishly funded and widely disseminated- address corporate needs…” Poynor,4,2000.

Also artist and designers coming out of art school where and still are working for more corporate projects because of the money. “For many art and design schools, they are obsessed with how cool an ad looks, rather than with what it is really saying…” Poynor,4,2000. And finally, the main message made in the original manifesto and the one in 2000 is that nothing has change in between these 35 years. And I agree with McCoy when he states that” Designers who have grown up in a commercial climate often find this hard to believe says McCoy , that  feels  political or social concerns are either extraneous to our work or inappropriate.” McCoy,5,2000  Even though this article dose centres on advertisement, illustrators’ still have these same problems. If I was offer the chance to design something for Nike or CND then I would more than likely go for Nike because it offers the money, however from having read this manifesto and the revisit of it, I can now see how that view is wrong. We have a skill of communicating key ideas in a way anyone can understand why don’t we use them to question and challenge political and social issues more? However I disagree with the point of young designers, which they just go for the big corporate needs more. If that work gets you established as a popular designer then you chose to show work demonstrating your opinion of issues, then would the work have more of an impact?