22 July 2009

100+ Years of Design Manifestos

manifesto.jpgSince the days of radical printer-pamphleteers, design and designers have a long history of fighting for what’s right and working to transform society. The rise of the literary form of the manifesto also parallels the rise of modernity and the spread of letterpress printing.

This list of design manifestos was buried in a previous post but deserves its own permalink. The original list was largely drawn from Mario Piazza’s presentation at the 2009 conference Più Design Può in Florence, though I’ve edited and added to it. I’ve also incorporated links where I was able to find them.

And a few un-/anti- manifestos:


Know of others I’m leaving out? Please

Bonus points if you’ve got a link.


Thanks Alberto, Ampat, Barbara, Ben, Charles, Gabe, Gary, Ianus, Jane, Kara, Kelly, Laura, Lotte, Nick, Noah, Ramsay, and William for the additions.

Last updated December 6, 2021.