I approached the manifesto from a post-modernist perspective, which arguably made it infinitely harder to complete. If there are no hard-set rules without exceptions, who am I to shout directives at anyone? Or even just into the void. I researched existing manifestos and garnered some prevailing themes that seemed to exist across time and platform. One idea that artists and manifesto creators seem to agree on and preach as a lifestyle is āfail forwardā (Popova, 2021). Which seems like a guileless starting place. But how can one tell others to ājust actā or ājust createā, even if itās bad or clumsy or wrong, when our creations have the potential to influence lives in potentially damaging ways? Consider the makers of the film āThe Birth of a Nationā. The filmmakers probably thought they were creating art, representing their culture, promoting American values, and showing the world their heroic side of the story. But this film is widely credited with generating renewed interest in the KKK, a surge in KKK membership, and frankly itās beyond likely that many people died due to the hysteria incited by this film. Itās actually probably more important to communicate to a larger audience that people donāt often know when theyāre on the wrong side of history. People are generally trying to do good things, stick up for what they think is right.
Take, for example, the artist, singer-songwriter SIA, who recently made a film called āMusicā, which was an āhomage to her autistic half-sisterā and childhood companion, and made in good faith, under the impression that she was giving exposure to an underrepresented community. But this movie was critically received as a disgrace. SIA herself is not autistic, nor is the main actress she chose to represent the autistic individual. She likely didnāt intend to cause any harm, but she reduces autism into a cartoonish and childlike of itself, completely lacking the nuance and sensitivity that it would require to immerse the viewer in their world, put us in their shoes, and bring their story to life. So what should we take away from this? Could this film have been made elegantly, so that it would have been received with grace? Do we adopt a blanket principle that no one should tell any stories about marginalized, disenfranchised, or underrepresented communities unless they, themselves are part of that community? Thatās where we find one of the pitfalls of post-modernism. Infinite consensus can create paralysis. Our entire nation is grappling with that notion, at the moment.
Another feature common to these artistic manifestos is the idea that consumerism is the antithesis of progress, that our graphic design skills are absolutely wasted in these capitalistic endeavors, and that we should instead dedicate our time to more virtuous, important tasks (Garland, 1964). At first glance I agreed with this sentiment. Runaway capitalism profits from (and has historically profited from) slavery, and the capitalist creed isnāt exactly something that I want to align myself with completely. But it is worth noting that consumerism is generally the niche that we graphic designers occupy in society, and I donāt think thatās altogether terrible. I have this memory of my friend purchasing a box of adult diapers for her infirmed grandfather, and on the front cover of the box was a handsome young man- maybe 30 years old- wearing an adult diaper. When she bought the box we both had a giggle imagining this man, just after he had accepted his job offer, excitedly calling his mom on the phone like, āMom, I got the job!! Iām gonna be a MODEL!!ā And to be honest that idea still makes me giggle. But the point worth noting here is that heās a cog of the capitalist machine, just like the rest of us (or, most of us). And weāre all going to have to work less-than-glamorous jobs at some point. But directing anger with the system towards other people who are just trying to make ends meetādoesnāt strike me as a helpful thing to do. So even if youāre employed to make packaging design by a company that makes laxatives, or whatever, just do your best and make it attractive. Or funny. Not solely or necessarily so the company can increase the profit margins of our employers, but so that we can make our world a more beautiful or enjoyable place to live in, however we can.
Lastly, a trend in manifestos and an explicit goal of artists and graphic designers that has caught my attention is the imperative to āmake something lastingā. Which didnāt sound completely right to me for some reason. Of course, I believe in making the world a better place for future generations, but achieving that by making something lasting, even if that thing isnāt a physical entity- strikes me as a fallible approach. Ideas change, and thereās almost 8 billion of us on this planet. Sometimes the best way to make the world a better place is to feel small, be kind, and just try to be a good human. Setting out to create things that last, either physically or metaphoricallyā¦ thatās how we ended up with so many statues of racist war generals. Just saying. Maybe letās not make ālastingā one of our ultimate motivations.
I had about a million points that I wanted to make in this manifesto, and with each point I got immediately fretful about the million consequential counterpoints. So I went about this manifesto in a way that I felt best demonstrated the idea that there are often at least two sides to every issue, depending on the filter you view it through. And that sometimes a bit of a filter is necessary to make sense of things at all. When viewed with one filter, my manifesto conveys suggestions of silliness and harmless rebellion, and the other through filter is a message more along the lines of ālive a humble life and drive safelyā. The trends in graphic design that I do enjoy and abided by are the style of write everything in capitals, split things into discrete, brief phrases, using slightly provocative rhetoric, occasionally featuring āfoul languageā (Hanna, 2021). The back of my manifesto is a drawing (created in photoshop and printed) of mine that I found to be a lighthearted reflection of postmodernism.
Regarding my specific methodology, my manifesto is printed on cardstock and sits within an envelope that has acetate windows on each side to filter out red and blue light respectively. The card, outside of the envelope, is a printed with superimposed messages in red and cyan, that are difficult to read without a filter, but are legible when viewed from within the envelope. The only material problem I encountered along the way is that acetate paper is extremely static-y, it pulls dust out of the air and sticks to clothing because of its charge, and thus constantly appears dirty and gives you little electric shocks when youāre handling it.
I feel like my manifesto is an accurate representation of myself and my views. It is an attractive object containing both information and irreverence, it is a symbol in and of itself, and it is a representation of my present and future approaches to my work in graphic design.
origamiaround
stormborns
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
discoholicmusic
areudirty