Personal Manifesto Project by Kate Schmidt

Personal Manifesto Project Kate Schmidt, visc 402

First Things First Reflection For our reflection on the First Things First design manifestos, I chose to format my response as a tweet because twitter and other social media platforms have become increasingly popular avenues for expressing everything from small personal opinions to big ideas and calls for societal change.

Many Manifestos Manifesto Case Studies

Principles of Environmental Justice First National P.O.C. Environmental Leadership Summit, 1991 The authors of this manifesto wrote a comprehensive list of fundamental principles necessary in the pursuit of environmental justice. The manifesto is in the form of a list and was released publicly and now serves as a templates for guiding principles and demands of environmentalists and grassroots movements. This delegation is asking for mutual respect, fair reparations, proper education, workers’ rights, people’s right to self-determination, and more as related to previous tragedies and injustices experience by people through nature, and to nature by people. Source: EJnet.org

WHY CHEAP ART? Peter Schumann, 1984 Peter Schumann of Bread & Puppet Theatre Company wrote and printed this poem to be distributed to performers and artists in support of keeping art cheap and accessible. The poem format of this manifesto allows it to be quickly distributed and served as a rallying cry for performers of the time. The Bread and Puppet Theatre Company is asking society to not treat art like it is a commodity, but instead a reflection of humanity which should be spread and enjoyed by all people, daily. Source: thepoemroom.com

The Personal is Political Carol Hanisch, 1970 Carol Hanisch, an American radical feminist, wrote about the shared struggles of women that develop from society prescribing negative qualities onto women that are often the result of misogynistic ideologies and disadvantageous positions that society has put women in in the first place. This manifesto was printed in the Women’s Liberation magazine in 1970, and widely distributed for many years after. Hanisch is asking women to come together and listen to one another’s personal experiences to understand that their struggles are not unique, and are instead a result of political systems and power dynamics in their day to day life. Source: carolhanisch.org

Seeking Comfort in an Uncomfortable Chair Bruno Munari, 1944 Bruno Munari, an Italian designer and inventor, writes a manifesto about the frustrations of furniture design through an anecdotal story and photography about uncomfortable chairs. The manifesto is effective through its use of humor and was published to a wide audience through a magazine. Munari is asking product designers to “perfect each and every piece of furniture and not craft thousands of variations; we must refine them in all senses, and not follow fashion, but make them to last...”. Source: designmanifestos.org

Un-making Architecture WAI Think Tank, 2021 Designers from WAI, an architectural think tank, created a manifesto addressing the many ways that racism pervades our built environments and imploring architects to create anti-racist architecture. The manifesto is in sixteen paragraphs, spoken aloud in a video, each section addressing a different aspect of racism. The designers from WAI are calling for acknowledgment and reform of the racist implications of architecture that persist through buildings, laws, monuments, capitalism, and more. Source: waithinktank.com

S.C.U.M. Manifesto Valerie Solanas, 1967 Valerie Solanas, a member of the Society for Cutting Up Men, wrote a manifesto for the organization that justified the methods of the group in pursuing the overthrow of a society based on money and the eradication of men. S.C.U.M. distributed their radical ideas through many types of publication, this specific publication is a reimagination by artist Sofia Bempeza. S.C.U.M. is asking for all women to leave behind their jobs, loyalties to society, and men in their life in pursuit of creating a money-less and manless society, even if it requires violent resistance to achieve. Source: sofiabempeza.org

Manifesto for Apprentices Frank Lloyd Wright, n.d. Frank Lloyd Wright, prolific American architect, wrote this list of guiding principles for the apprentices that he oversaw at his architectural studio in Scottsdale, AZ, Taliesin West. The manifesto is quite short and lists just ten essential principles. Wright believed strongly in creating structures that engaged with and enhanced the natural environment around them, what he called “organic architecture”. His manifesto reflects this idea and his support for experimentation. Source: designmanifestos.org

A Stealthy Reimagining of Urban Public Space Elizabeth Diller, 2020 Elizabeth Diller, revolutionary American architect and professor, filmed a manifesto about how we should be allocating and amplifying public spaces in our urban environment. The manifesto was released as a Ted Talk and calls on her past experiences and hopes for the future of designed public spaces. Diller is asking for urban planners and architects to understand the immeasurable impact of accessible mixeduse public spaces on urban communities. She urges change in the inertia of architecture at current to achieve this. Source: ted.com

City Hall Charles Eames, 1943 Charles Eames, American designer and architect, wrote City Hall as a manifesto about the importance of designing government spaces with accessibility to the public in mind to create truly democratic cities. The manifesto is a few paragraphs long and published in the Architectural Forum publication. Eames is asking city planners and architects to create cities and city halls that promote participation in democratic processes and encourage conversation between the government and the people. Source: designmanifestos.org

Incomplete Manifesto For Growth Bruce Mau, 1998 Bruce Mau, Canadian designer and educator, wrote a manifesto of his best forty-three pieces of advice for designers who are looking to grow and learn through their work. The manifesto was originally just a published list, but has since been turned into a bold and dynamic poster set. Mau is really challenging designers to expand their process, dig deeper, and push the limits of what is possible. My favorite rule is “Capture Accidents”. Source: Kayra Pao on Behance

My Manifesto Topics 1. Planned Obsolescence 2. Digital Minimalism 3. Riots are the Result of Broken Systems 4. I Hate Recycling 5. Rejecting the Downstream Approach 6. What it means to be Ladylike 7. Climate Justice is Social Justice 8. Boo Amazon 9. The Harm of Apoliticism 10. Defunding the Police

I Hate Recycling What it means to be Ladylike Climate Justice is Social Justice

Where do I find inspiration? Pinterest, of course!! I’ve been using Pinterest since high school and I use it in many capacities, for both design and personal use. Pinterest is super versatile and their recommendation features are always super helpful. The possibilities are endless because Pinterest has everything from UI/UX interfaces, to social change posters, to vintage packaging!

Moodboards Finding poster and publication inspiration

Type Madness

Destruction & Reconstruction

Visualizing Contrast

Manifestations of the Mind

Round I Initial Poster Explorations

Type-Only

Type & Image

Round II Poster & Manifesto Refinement

Type

Type & Image

Manifesto Editing

Round III Poster & Publication Refinement

Type & Image

Publication Process

Round IV Poster & Publication Refinement

Image-Making Process

Texture Scans

Image-Only

Type & Image

Full-Size Tiled Poster

Printing the poster full-sized I realized that I needed to tone back the background texture and additionally increase the amount of contrast in the edges of the arrow imagery to convey In-class critiques confirmed the effectiveness of my type size and peers suggested that I find a way to create more texture within the body text of my manifesto for visual consistency. To create this texture in my body text I printed each section and used pieces of tape to life off some of the ink and a sharp edge to scrape at the words to give the scan a lot of natural texture.

Publication Explorations

In my publication explorations I focused on deconstruction of the recycling symbol, the relationship between pages through ripping, and the unravelling of the concept of recycling through use of color. I carried through many design elements of my manifesto poster into my publication, including arrow symbolism, language use, and a cut and paste feeling through the use of scans and textures.

Final Deliverables Manifesto Poster & Publication