Massimo Vignelli Hierarchy
Michelle Ortiz
Massimo Hierarchy by Michelle Ortiz Massimo Vignelli is a very important designer in terms of Hierarchy. His most famous and recognizable example of Hierarchy is the information posted throughout the New York City Subway system. He used the typeface Helvetica because it is easy to read. His work in designing the displays for the New York City Subway system uses hierarchy by making the most important information for riders as the biggest size. He made sure that the direction such as Downtown or Uptown and the Subway Station was the important information dis-
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played. The next important line Vignelli displayed was the Subway line and then made smaller was the information about the line. The choices he made for most important information was vital because if he chose the wrong thing to make biggest, it would not function as it needs to, to direct where people want to go. Another example of Massimo Vignelli’s work with use of Hierarchy is the brochures for the furniture company Knoll. In the brochures, Vignelli made the company name the most important
Vignelli New York City Subway System Signage
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Brochures for Furniture company Knoll designed by Massimo Vignelli
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Skyline Magazine
information and then put the less important information in smaller sizes. Another example of Massimo Vignelli using Hierarchy in his work is in the example of Skyline Magazine. He uses the title of the magazine as the key point in the cover. The smaller stories contained within are then put in smaller point sizes since they are the less important information that readers need to know. Although directly underneath the title, information such as the date of the issue and price are the second smallest bits of information because they do not hold as much weight as the magazine’s name and stories. A fourth example of Hierarchy in
Massimo Vignelli’s work is the work he did for Fassati Wines. For the packaging of the bottles, it again made sure that it contained the most important information as the largest point size. Hierarchy in this instance is needed to emphasize the brand and attract the customer.
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Massimo Vignelli also used Hierarchy for the signage in International Design Center New York. An example of such is in a sign that alerts people to what floor they are on and what businesses are on each floor. The most important information displayed are the
An example of hierarchy in the packaging for Fassati Wines
Knoll Furniture company
floor level and the area labeled “Center Two”. These are clearly made to be important because in order for someone to find what floor they need to be on it needs to be the most visible. A sixth and final example of Massimo Vignelli’s use of Hierarchy is in Fodor’s Travel Guides. In these guides the hierarchy of information is clearly visible. The name of the guide is the most important as displayed by the point size, followed by the
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country in which the guide is for, and underneath other information. This system of hierarchy is successful because it alerts the viewer of the brand and then afterwards let’s them know which guide they need for the area they want. Having information that is not as vital to the reader as the smallest size helps the person viewing the guide quickly decide which one they need.
International Design Center New York Fodor’s Travel Guides
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