First Things First 2020
Designers just renewed the previous First Things First manifestos with the expectation that this decade is when designers step up and take social- & environmental justice-based climate action. I just signed the First Things First 2020 Manifesto. As a designer, I’m taking a stand to take on climate action. Take climate action in the work you do by using your creative talents to create brands, experiences, and products for the betterment of humanity towards a more ecological civilization.
Will you join me? Sign the manifesto, firstthingsfirst2020.org
About First Things First
We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. During the last five decades, we’ve made huge progress in addressing environmental issues around the world. Yet, we are far from addressing humanity's greatest threat, global warming.
Scientists, researchers, policy-makers, and others are on the front lines addressing our climate crisis. Too often their message comes out muddled, failing to convince people to change behavior or policies quickly enough to make an impact.
This is where designers come in.
Designers are made for this. We use creativity to solve problems. We have the ability to visualize ideas. We help communicate important messages. We design interactions that encourage others to take action.
We are calling all designers from all industries and disciplines, working in-house or at a small studio, full-time or freelance, to use their creative talents to address our climate crisis.
Let’s collaborate with scientists and policy-makers to level up their creative needs. Let’s build brands that spark movements. Let’s encourage all types of companies to take on climate action.
Because of this, we’ve updated the First Things First manifesto with the expectation that this decade is key for designers to step up and take social- and environmental justice-based climate action.
Previous First Things First Manifestos
Updated 2020 text co-written by Marc O’Brien, Namita Dharia, Ben Gaydos, with the help of Sarah Harrison, Julia Yezbick, Karen Stein Shanley, Rachel Cellinese, and Rich Binell.
More info
The manifesto was created, in large part, by climatedesigners.org, a free hub for designers and creative professionals from all industries to learn techniques, gather resources, and find communities committed to using their creative skills for climate action. The people behind the manifesto represent a small fraction of the different types of people that practice design. They simply felt that we needed to start a conversation among the design community on how design plays a role within the context of our climate crisis.
Will you join me? Sign the manifesto, firstthingsfirst2020.org
