- All of the 4 authors within their texts show their concern and frustration with how graphic design is becoming less emotional and more commercialised. Garland (1964), Adbusters (2000), Experimental Jetset (2001) and Kalman (1998) all express the discontinuation of under designing graphic designers; giving in to consumerism, unworthy projects given by advertising agencies, a commerce culture, all of which don't feed the future but fatten the wallets of the billionaire entrepreneurs. An great example given by Kalman in 'Fuck Committees', "Magazine editors have lost their editorial independence, and work for committees of publishers (who work for committees of advertisers). TV scripts are vetted by producers, advertisers, lawyers, research specialists, layers and layers of paid executives who determine whether the scripts are dumb enough to amuse what they call the ‘lowest common denominator’. Film studios out films in front of focus groups to determine whether an ending will please target audiences. All cars look the same. Architectural decisions are made by accountants. Ads are stupid. Theater is dead." Money has become the motive and as time goes on this situation only gets worse and the passion and character is dying.
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This image expresses the same harrowing feeling of being consumed by consumerism, in both versions of 'First Things First.' The black and white, vintage looking hand that could have been holding something worthy or expressing how the person felt purely by the gesture, is now replaced by harsh alarming red box we as consumers are placed in in this modern world, relating to the brand Supreme with the alarming text that has replaced the man's expression now replaced and defaced by the idea of owning brands is what he holds dearest.
3. Adbusters's manifesto (2000) is aligned with its predecessor highlights the way we are brought up and how advertising has played a role in our lives makes us being told our designs are only worthy if profitable. In doing so, Adbusters propose a meaningful alternative to the reader which reinforces that we can have profound lasting and positive effects towards productions of new meanings and a better future. However nice the proposal, in our day and age and most likely forever financial stability is what drives us and what we work hard for to provide for ourselves and our families, in which designers have to meet the needs of those putting money in their banks and the consumer. They even express how compared to the original 1964 text, their has been a further 'explosive growth' of global commercial culture. There is no easy solution. However, Kalman in 'Fuck Committees' tries to help us; "I offer a modest solution: Find the cracks in the wall. There are a very few lunatic entrepreneurs who will understand that culture and design are not about fatter wallets, but about creating a future. They will understand that wealth is means, not an end. Under other circumstances they may have turned out to be like you, creative lunatics. Believe me, they’re there and when you find them, treat them well and use their money to change the world."
4. Writing in 'Disrepresentation Now' by Experimental Jetset (2001) , they give an honest refresh on their previous writings on advertising and own up to what they said may have been inaccurate. 'Having said all this, we like to point out that our criticism of advertising is fundamentally different than the criticism expressed in the 2000 First Things First manifesto. Other than the signatories to that manifesto, we see no structural difference between social, cultural and commercial graphic design. Every cause that is formulated outside of a design context, and superficially imposed on a piece of design, is tendentious, representative, and thus reactionary, whether it deals with corporate interests or social causes.'. This seems like a rarity to me and a breath of fresh air in that their honesty doesn't throw off the designers working hard each day who may have been disheartened with the ideas that what they're doing is not sufficient enough. However, it is brought to attention their distaste for the term 'Visual Communication' being more commonly used, hindering the dimensions graphic design can flourish.
