Manifestos, those elegant, usually vehement declarations of ideas, fell out of favor in the mid-20th century to be replaced by shorter “statements of purpose.” The past few years, however, have seen a resurgence of the manifesto as an art form, particularly by the design industry, as as Ellen and Julia Lupton point out on the American Institute of Graphic Arts website.
That the design industry would embrace the form makes a lot of sense, write the Luptons. “A well-written manifesto is like a well-designed product. It communicates directly, it is broken into functional parts, and it has elements of poetry and surprise. And drafting one is more like writing an ad than writing a novel.”
Designers have come to recognize the manifesto as the valuable tool it once was: a work that helps the author to crystallize his or her thoughts and encourages readers to take stances of their own on the issues. Check out even more modern manifestos at ChangeThis.
