Design Manifestos

The Chicago Graphic Design Club has compiled a collection of design manifestos that have shaped graphic design’s evolution for over 100 years. Contact us for any suggestions or revisions.

TitleAuthorYear
Graphic Tables and Figurative MapsCharles Minards1861
The Ideal BookWilliam Morris1883
The Arts and Crafts of To-DayWilliam Morris1889
The Founding and Manifesto of FuturismF.T. Marinetti1909
Manifesto of Futuristic ArchitectureAntonio Sant’Elia1914
De Stijl Manifesto 1918
Bauhaus ManifestoWalter Gropius1919
Down with Seriousism!Bruno Taut1920
Manifesto of the Painters’ UnionTaller de Grafica Popular1922
Topology of TypographyEl Lissitzky1923   
The New TypographyLászló Moholy-Nagy1923
First Things FirstKen Garland1964
The Artist’s Contract 1971
Ten Rules of Good DesignDieter Rams1987
A Scandinavian Design Council Manifesto on Nature, Ecology and Human Needs for the Future 1990
The Social Role of the Graphic DesignerPierre Bernard1991
The Munich Design Charter 1991
The Riot Grrrl ManifestoKathleen Hanna1991
The Hannover PrinciplesWilliam McDonough1992
Viewer’s Declaration of Independence 1996
A Declaration of the Independence of CyberspaceJohn Perry Barlow1996
People’s Communication Charter 1998
The Manifesto of January 3, 2000Bruce Sterling2000
First Things First 2000   
Incomplete Manifesto for GrowthBruce Mau2000
Socialist Designer’s Manifesto 2001
Designers Against MonocultureNoah Scalin2001
Triangular Design ManifestoConceptual Devices2002
The Economy of IdeasJohn Perry Barlow2003
Free Culture Manifesto 2004
Draft Craft ManifestoUlla Engeström2005
The Public Role of the Graphic DesignerDesign Academy Eindhoven2006
Free Font ManifestoEllen Lupton2006
The Designer’s Dilemma 2007
1000 Words: A Manifesto for Sustainability in DesignAllan Chochinov2007
White Night Before A ManifestoMetahaven2008
Parametricism as Style  –  Parametricist ManifestoPatrik Schumacher2008
Conditional Design Manifesto 2008   
The Repair ManifestoPlatform212009
A Short Manifesto on the Future of AttentionMichael Erard2009
Information Visualization ManifestoManuel Lima2009
The Awesomeness ManifestoUmair Haque2009
Charter for Innovation, Creativity, and Access to Knowledge 2.0.1 2009  
The Role of Design in the 21st Century, Danish Designers Manifesto: A Vision for the Future of Danish Design 2010
The Obstructionist ManifestoMark Goldman2010   
Anti Design Festival ManifestoNeville Brody2010
The Win Without Pitching ManifestoBlair Enns2010
A Design Education ManifestoMitch Goldstein2010
Icograda Design Education Manifesto 2011
First Things First 2014
DesignX: A Future Path for Design  2014
The Oslo Manifesto 2015
The Arts Emergency Manifesto 2015
The Montreal Design Declaration 2017
The Copenhagen Letter 2017
Reconstrained Design: A Manifesto 2017  
Design Justice Network Principles 2018
A Manifesto for Decolonising Design 2019
Society-Centered Design 2020

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