We wanted First Things First to provoke debate

I’ve just looked at today’s Design Week and come across the latest round of comments on First Things First 2000.

I’ve just looked at today’s Design Week and come across the latest round of comments on First Things First 2000.

It won’t surprise you to learn that I think most of these responses completely miss the point. Tim Rich’s two columns have been particularly ill-informed. The Sappi project he describes appears to be entirely consistent with what FTF is saying. In her latest editorial Lynda Relph-Knight commends Neville Brody’s remark that “we’re so obsessed with glitter, we’ve forgotten the message”, but this, again, is exactly what FTF is saying – among other things.

The manifesto was an attempt to get the ball of discussion rolling, and this it has done, on both sides of the Atlantic, with all the publications involved receiving many letters to the editor. (Is the desire for participatory democratic discussion “elitist”? Not in my book.) There have been responses on the Web and public design debates are in the offing. We should have one here.

Rick Poynor

rpoynor@dircon.co.uk

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