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An exhibit, Manifesto, held in Treviso, Italy’s XYZ was held on the 12th of September, and the only thing missing was any final products. The final results were deliberately withheld so that a spotlight could be shone upon something that rarely garners any exhibit space, the process. The exhibit contains “13 posters comprising the 13 personal manifestos of 13 renowned international designers…” and hopes to explore the creative process behind these designers. It is an interesting direction to take for an exhibit, as it tends to shuck the idea that the ends justify the means, and focuses on the means, or the path and choices made during the process. It is a celebration of the road that a designer travels on their journey to a realized product or idea, and that makes it extremely unique.

What seems most interesting about the exhibit is the insight it gives into the designer and their work flow, something that despite it’s incredible importance, gets far less attention than one would think. It is placing the importance back onto the process or the journey that designer has taken, instead of just focusing on what was created.  While the majority of the people who visit exhibits just want to see the end result, for designers, it is almost equally important to understand how they came to the conclusions they did, and to understand why decisions were made.  The manifesto exhibit helps to give a glimpse into the designers’ worlds at the time and the options presented to them, as well as better explaining and presenting their personal design beliefs.

As a visitor to the exhibit, you are able to feel as though you are able to grasp what the designer was feeling and going through while working through the process, as well as understanding a bit more about the designer themselves.  Perhaps this isn’t an exhibit that will have as broad of appeal as one that focuses on the end results from these designers, but for those who do visit, it could be incredibly fascinating.  There is very little more interesting than learning what makes a person tick inside, what drives them, and what makes them do the things they do.  While the final products are always interesting in their own right, this is an exhibit I would much rather visit, as opposed to a gallery of finished products if only for the insight into these designers’ minds.