Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Steven Heller -- To the barricades : First things first manifesto 2000 -- First things first, a brief history / Rick Poynor -- First things first: now more than ever / Matt Soar -- Just say no, quietly / Monika Parrinder -- Can designers save the world? (And should they try?) / Nico Macdonald -- The people v. the corporate cool machine / Kalle Lasn -- A manifesto with ten footnotes / Michael Bierut -- A new kind of dialogue / Andrew Howard -- The spectacle: a reevaluation of the situationist thesis / Veronique Vienne -- On FTF / Loretta Staples -- Culture agents : Why Johnny can't dissent / Thomas Frank -- Culture agents / Max Bruinsma -- The case for brands / the editors of the Economist -- Truth in advertising / Naomi Klein -- Sustainable consumerism / Chris Riley -- Don't let the buggers grind you down! / Ken Garland -- Saving advertising / Jelly Helm -- Saving Jelly / Michael Rock -- Reading at the breakfast table / Natalia Ilyin -- Manifestos : Me, the undersigned / Jessica Helfand -- An incomplete manifesto for growth / Bruce Mau -- Fuck committees (I believe in lunatics) / Tibor Kalman -- The vow of chastity / First-year students at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design, London -- Critical languages : The time for being against / Rick Poynor -- Theory is a good idea / Matt Soar -- That was then, and this is now: but what is next? / Lorraine Wild -- What happens when the edges dissolve? / Loretta Staples -- The trouble with type / Rudy VanderLans -- Is it better to revive than to deceive? Design and complicity: Herbert Buyer's silent legacy / Sol Sender -- De stijl, new media, and the lessons of geometry / Jessica Helfand -- The critical "languages" of graphic design / Johanna Drucker -- State of the arts : Graphic design and the next big thing / Rudy VanderLans -- Telling the truth? / Milton Glaser -- Who needs ethics / Tim Rich -- Human dignity and human rights: thoughts on the principles of human-centered design / Richard Buchanan -- A manifesto of inclusivism / Paul J. Nini -- Greasing the wheels of capitalism with style and taste, or, the "professionalization" of American graphic design / Mr. Keedy -- No problem / Julie Lasky -- Terminal terminology / Katherine McCoy -- The hole in art's umbrella / Roy R. Behrens -- Graphic news / John Hockenberry -- Movie titles: much ado about little / Peter Hall -- The name game / Ruth Shalit -- Authorship : The designer as author / Michael Rock -- Battle of the big books / Rick Poynor -- All hail Mau the magnificent / Robert Fulford -- Half empty / Thomas Frank -- Lost in sound / Rick Poynor -- Meditations : Getting real / Ralph Caplan -- Least designed and most read / Quentin Newark -- The handwriting is on the wall, but who can read it? / Todd Lief -- Let the buyer beware / Veronique Vienne -- Beige / Andrea Codrington -- The flag waverer / Steven Heller.

This collection of ... essays published from 1997-2000, in professional and general-interest design magazines alike, offers ... critical discussions on the issues and objects of contemporary graphic design. Among the important themes discussed are: both sides of the controversy over the First Things First Manifesto 2000, a call for greater responsiblility in the design profession, the notion of the graphic designer as "auteur, " and the role of graphic design as a force in a growing visual culture. Offering an overview of the evolution of twentieth-century graphic design and design criticism, [this book] focuses in on the many hot-button issues that have emerged in the field.-Back cover.