The First Things First Analysis

Design activism has been a subject of great interest for the past century. It was set forth in the “The First Things First” manifesto written by Ken Garland in 1964. This document reacts against the consumerist culture and challenges designers to use their skills to ameliorate environmental, social and culture life. Since then, design has been addressing political, social and cultural issues. In my essay, I focus on feminist design in particular. It is only very recently that women’s voices have started to be heard. For a very long time women have been denied access to the art and design world. In her article, Linda Nochlin tries to find the reasons for which there haven’t been any “great female artists” and reveals the importance played by

Messages are delivered through the combination of word and image and carried by any number of different media and formats. For instance, the poster shows to be an efficient vehicle for women to reach out to the public. This is due to the fast distribution and easy accessibly aspect it has. Posters can be created cheaply in any size; they can use different printing methods, and can be produced in quantity. What is also significant about the efficacy of the poster is that it presents visually a mutual viewing experience. As mentioned by Lucienne Roberts, a British graphic designer, “posters pull together the like-minded… you feel part of a collective movement looking at them”. This idea is very well illustrated in the underground press, and in particular the feminist underground publications. The underground feminist publications derive from the underground press dominated by men. The underground press refers to publications produced without official approval, it emerged in the 1960s; a period defined by a young culture absorbed wish social change. Its underground status makes the crowd feel part of the community even though it is not involved in the productions of the publication. However, it included sex ads, pornography, and total disregard of female’s issues, which made women more and more displeased with the content of the papers. An important example of a feminist underground enforcement is Rat magazine’s takeover. An alliance of feminist women appropriated the January/February 1970 issue. They featured the article “Goodbye to all that” by Robin Morgan which describes the way women are exploited by male “revolutionaries” and the reasons for which women must demand their own power. This event is seen as a radical step forward for women’s rights. Many feminist underground publications followed, notably Ms. magazine. It was founded by a group of women in 1972 including