A Design for Life

Epic released it on 15 April 1996, produced by Dave Eringa and Mike Hedges. It debuted and peaked at number 2 in the UK, spent 14 weeks on the chart and was certified platinum. The title was inspired by Joy Division's debut EP An Ideal for Living. Bradfield said the lyrics were a blend of two sets sent to him by Wire, titled "Design for Life" and "Pure Motive", and that the music came in about ten minutes. The band approached Hedges after hearing McAlmont and Butler's "Yes", which he had worked on.

The opening line, "Libraries gave us power", comes from the words "Knowledge is Power" carved above the library in Pillgwenlly, Newport. Writing in The Guardian in 2011, Wire said the line was adapted from that engraving and that the lyric was him railing against a flippancy he saw spreading with Britpop. He wrote that libraries had been a lifeline to a band with no money. In June 2009 the band opened the new Cardiff Central Library and unveiled a plaque carrying the line.

Wire dedicated the song to Dennis Potter, Dennis Skinner, Arthur Scargill and Antonio Gaudi, and he described it as a bolt of light from a severely dark place. Melody Maker's Taylor Parkes named it Single of the Week. Pedro Romhanyi directed the video, in which slogans of compliance clash with scenes of fox hunting, Royal Ascot and the Last Night of the Proms.