MANISH FESTO

FORWERD

Hi: my name is Manish and I am a freelance

designer, who specializes in communication

and user design. This is my manifesto to all

things design and living.

With a world with an infinite number of possibilities this

self-manifesto is to help me define and reflect on myself.

This declaration will include personal and design

intentions, opinions, objectives, motives and beliefs.

By referencing my manifesto daily, it will become a tool

to help me maintain focus, purpose and will help me

clarify what items and tasks are important in my life.

This document is being published freely so you can see

some of the values, ideals, considerations and sense

of responsibility that shape the growth and practice

of the design work I produce.

I would like to thank all my friends, work colleagues,

design icons, history, biology and everything else, who

are helping me expand my knowledge and experiences

on this journey.

1ST THINGS 1ST

BASED ON THE

'FIRST THINGS FIRST' MANIFESTO

KEN GARLAND, 1964, and signed globally by many

influential designers of the 20th century.

I, Manish Chauhan, a designer, art director and visual

communicator who has been raised in a world in which the

techniques and apparatus of advertising and branding have

persistently been presented to me as the most lucrative,

effective and desirable use of my talents. With the market

rewarding it; a tide of books and publications reinforce it.

Within this climate, it is my intention to use my skills to

attempt to improve the world rather than using my talents

as money-making, self-serving, ego-pumping vocation.

There is no pursuit more worthy of my problem-solving skills

than the application of good design principles to seemingly

mundane projects. The application of my skills

is not for the elite, but for everyone. The most trivial of

products (dog biscuits, coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair

gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, beer and recreational

vehicles) deserve quality design. This is not because it

improves my life, but because design has the power to

improve the life of every living entity. Effort towards

better design will never be wasted, and the most trivial

of purposes contributes to my prosperity.

In common with an increasing number of the general public,

I have reached a saturation point at which the high-pitched

scream of consumer selling is no more than sheer noise.

Rather than lessen my cause, this state of affairs gives

new importance to my work. I will not turn my back on

the profession in order to search for a higher cause, but

with the explosive growth of global commercial culture,

the current consumer climate deserves my immediate

attention because it has the potential to have the

greatest impact.

I embrace this challenge and see the value of finding

new relevant and effective solutions to the problems of

the world. My daily work may overlap with environmental,

social and cultural crises, however, these ventures,

although deserving of my attention, are not more important

than any other project I am involved in.

I therefore propose a renewed commitment to my

profession that emphasizes the power of design to

improve the life the planet and all it’s residents. I am not

challenging the institution of consumerism, but rather

working within it’s structure to bring about good by

improving the system. I also am not endorsing a mental

environment saturated with commercial messages,

but rather taking ownership of the effect my occupation has

on the world, and striving to improve the world through my

commitment to design.

MANISH CHAUHAN, DESIGN STRATEGIST

DESIGN

The root of all good and evil is in

the design, by being responsible it

can change the way we live. MANISH CHAUHAN, 2010

TEN PRINCIPLES OF GOOD DESIGN

DIETER RAMS, 1980

01 Good design is innovative The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means,

exhausted. Technological development is always offering

new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative

design always develops in tandem with innovative

technology, and can never be an end in itself.

02 Good design makes a product useful A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain

criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and

aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a

product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly

detract from it.

03 Good design is aesthetic The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its

usefulness because products we use every day affect our

person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects

can be beautiful.

04 Good design makes a product understandable It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make

the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.

05 Good design is unobtrusive Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither

decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should

therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room

for the user’s self-expression.

06 Good design is honest It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or

valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate

the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.

07 Good design is long-lasting It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears

antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years

– even in today’s throwaway society.

08 Good design is thorough, down to the last

detail Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and

accuracy in the design process show respect towards

the consumer.

09 Good design is environmentally-friendly Design makes an important contribution to the

preservation of the environment. It conserves resources

and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout

the lifecycle of the product.

10 Good design is as little design as possible Less, but better – because it concentrates on the

essential aspects, and the products are not burdened

with non-essentials.

LIVING

The hardest journey in life is to

understand oneself, by being open to

change great things are possible. MANISH CHAUHAN, 2010

INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH

BRUCE MAU, 1998

01 Allow events to change you You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from

something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it.

The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience

events and the willingness to be changed by them.

02 Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on.

Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of

unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As

long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth.

03 Process is more important than outcome When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go

to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we

may not know where we’re going, but we will know we

want to be there.

04 Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child)

Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting

your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts,

trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the

fun of failure every day.

05 Go deep The deeper you go the more likely you will discover

something of value.

06 Think with your mind. Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.

07 Capture accidents The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a

different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the

process. Ask different questions.

08 Drift Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies.

Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

09 Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a

common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

10 Everyone is a leader. Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge.

Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

11 Harvest ideas. Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous

environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand,

benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to

applications.

12 Keep moving. The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce

success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of

your practice.