Project 00 – Create A Manifesto

What are manifestos?

Manifestos are often seen in politics as well as being portrayed in an artistic manner. Manifestos within art are often extremely expressive and inspirational with the intention of portraying a certain belief or message.^[1]

What does a manifesto mean to me?

After researching what a manifesto is and the meaning behind them, I decided to think about what a manifesto would mean to me and how I would benefit from creating one that is both inspirational, well designed and aesthetically pleasing.

For me, a manifesto needs to be something that is truly inspirational and something that I could look back on to give my future-self that extra dose of wisdom and remind myself where I came from, it needs to be some words of wisdom that will instantly inspire anyone who views it, it also needs to portray individuality and it needs to represent me and who I am.

Surrealists Manifesto

Manifestos from the Surrealist Movement date back to the early 1920’s with a total of four surrealist manifestos known to exist. The first two surrealist manifestos were published in 1924, Manifeste du surréalisme by Yvan Goll and Surréalisme Andre Breton and both represented strong surrealist beliefs. In 1929 Andre Breton went on to publish his second manifesto titled Second manifeste du surréalisme. The fourth manifesto from the surrealist movement was not publish during the lifetime of Yvan Goll and Andre Breton.^[2] The main aim of the Surrealist Movement was to focus on illustrating the minds deepest thought to create art commonly known as Automatism.^[3]

Dadaists Manifesto

The Dada Manifesto was written and published in 1916 by a man named Hugo Ball. Hugo’s main objective with publishing the Dada Manifesto was to express his views and opinions on Dadaism becoming an artistic movement in the early 1900’s.^[4] The primary aim for the Dadaist Movement to create an acceptance to the fact that there is no true meaning to life as we know it, Hugo Ball and other members of the Dadaist party didn’t want to create a false sense of purpose to the public.^[5]

De Stijl Manifesto

Composed and published in 1918 by Theo Van Doesburg, the De Stijl or ‘The Style’ manifesto aimed to create an artistic movement of purity through the combination of architecture and fine art such as painting and sculptures in an unsentimental construction.^[6] The De Stijl Movement was born from the Russian Revolution in the early 1900’s and aimed to combine the use of new technologies to create more dynamic compositions in print mediums such as posters, books and magazines in addition to architecture and product design.^[7]

Mottos, Mantras & Short Statements of Intent and Conviction

A Motto or Mantra is a short phrase that is often used by brands and companies to depict a set of beliefs or ideals that a certain brand represents, These are usually short statements of around 2 – 5 words.^[8] Some famous mottos used by large brands and conglomerates are; “Think Different” which is used by Apple, “The King Of Beers” which is Budweiser’s brand motto and “I’m Loving It” which is famously pinned to McDonalds fast-food chain. These short statements of instantly recognisable to these individual brands and are often used throughout their branding and advertising process. A mantra is usually a short statement of intent or conviction used internally for a brand and rarely, if at all, used in the branding and/or advertising. A motto is a short statement that is used publicly to represent a brands morals, goals and beliefs to their audience and is often extremely memorable and relatable to the brand it is being used for.^[9]

Manifesto Design Research

I began my initial design process by conducting some research into inspirational quotes, modern design trends and previously designed manifestos. I conducted some design inspiration online and started to create a mood-board of different styles of design, I am influenced by a lot of urban designs so I wanted to incorporate this into my manifesto to add my own personality.

Manifesto Design Inspiration

Below are a few examples of artistic manifesto designs using graphic typography.

Design Inspiration Research

Initially, I wanted my manifesto to be “Shoot for the moon and you’ll land among the stars” but this is something I was taught when I was younger and have lived by ever since, I wanted to created something new that was relevant to my most recent weaknesses in life. After conducting my research on inspirational quotes to figure out how they are constructed and what characteristics they hold, I wanted to create something short and straight to the point.

This is the style I wanted to go for with my manifesto design, I was inspired by the use of real life textures such as ripped pages, grunge textures and bold typography. The use of ripped pages gave me the idea of using more real-life elements in my design such as newspapers, books and magazines, I think these elements would work well together and will relate to message I have to say.

Final Submission

For my manifesto, I wanted to create something that would inspire me every single day, something I could live by and would drive me forward day in and day out.

I chose “Turn The F**king Page!” as a reminder to move on as this is something I have always struggled with when it comes to design, creativity and everyday life. I have always revisited design projects until they are “perfect” and I find it hard to let go of certain things in life.

“Turn The F**king Page!” is a reminder to move on and learn from the positives and the negatives in life, it’s a reminder to start a new chapter in life whether that be a new career path, learn a new skill or move to a new city/country. These are what truly shape a persons character and what make us who we are as individuals.

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