The first things first manifesto is a call to arms to designers, telling them that they should be using their expertise to support companies and causes that contribute to our national prosperity instead of 'flogging their skills and imagination to sell things'. The Emporio Armarni 'diamonds' perfume advertisement below is an example of these products that has been skilfully designed by creatives who in turn have contributed to the consumerism that is unhealthy for our society. The advert preys on the target audiences insecurities and advertises the image more than the perfume. They are selling the hope to be more like Beyonce to the audience. They are buying the perfume not based on the smell, but the fact that Beyonce is using it and the elegant way. The bottle has been designed in an aesthetic that resembles a diamond which gives the product its name. The reason they have chosen this is the preconception that diamonds are extremely rare and have value. This preconception was falsely put in place by the Da Beers Diamond Company in the 1930s to open up a new market that they could control. This preconception gives the product a sense of value and important in the eyes of the target audience when in actual fact it costs them very little to manufacture it, giving the corporation a huge profit. This causes independent companies in the same market to perish.
This advert is the 'design as persuasion' mentioned in First things first (revisited) by Rick Poyner.
