Massimo Vignelli by Taylor Bogle

Vignelli 01.10.31â&#x20AC;&#x201C;05.27.14

Taylor Bogle Graphic Design 1

If you can’t find it,

design it Massimo Vignelli is a well-known name in nearly every design circle in the world. While his branding and corporate identity are perhaps one of the examples of the most recognized work he completed in his lifetime, and he is known as the “grandfather of graphic design,” Vignelli never saw himself specifically as a graphic designer. Throughout his life, Vignelli designed anything from architectural feats including building structure and interiors, to stackable dinnerware. His philosophy regarding design pushed the conventions of typical desktop publishing and print design, and allowed the traditional graphic designers to experiment in three-dimensional mediums. Colleages of his described his passion for design not only present when working, but that it was a living, breathing area of his life. Vignelli himself describes his life stating that he and his wife lived by their design. Designer Michael Beiruit worked for Vignelli directly out of design school and states this about his experience working with him: “I learned specifically from him the impact that a designer can have on the world and the responsiblity that goes along with that.”

1931 1948 1950 Massimo is born in Milan.

Massimo attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan

Massimo Vignelli was born in Milan on January 10, 1931, nine years before World War II began. Growing up in a world consistently threatening war was not the greatest help to him as a child. A typical daily schedule in his childhood included attending school, and reacting to bomb alarm warnings, taking cover in nearby shelters. When the alarms would shut off, children would play as normal. Vignelli described the year of his birth as the perfect time due to the fact that if he were born earlier, he could have died in the war, but if born later, he would not have been able to paticipate in the infastructure work in the war. Massimo did not discover design for himself until he was 16 years old. He describes this, “I was happy from 16 on. From age 0 to 16, I was... I don’t know how I existed.”

Massimo begins working at an architecture firm. and attends the Politecnico, Milan.

His first influence in design came from a friend of his mother’s who was an interior design. The idea that design processes existed for nearly everything in the world excited and captivated him, inspiring Vignelli to dive into researching and reading as much as possible about design. He advocated for all designers to have mentors, just as one might in music or literature. At age 16, young Massimo began working at the office of an architect in Milan. This was due to the lack of existence of design schools at the time. Two years later, Vignelli left the office to pursue the study of architecture at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan. Two years after studying there, he left to attend the Politecinico di Milano, and following that, he attended the Università di Architettura in Venice.

1953 1955 1957 Massimo attends School of Architecture, University of Venice

Massimo designed a series of lighting fixtures for the Venini S.p.A. of Murano.

During his college studies, Vignelli met his wife Lella at an architecture conference. In his future work, Lella was an invaluable critic and collaborator. Lella came from a family of architects, which impressed Massimo. He also appreciated her simple style, dressing in modest clothing with little to no embellishment. This appreciation aligned with his belief that â&#x20AC;&#x153;true beauty is simple, as he shows in his designs.â&#x20AC;?

Massimo becomes married to Lella.

As a university student, Massimo primarily worked on small product design and corporate identity. One of his largest projects during his college career was his series of lighting fixtures for the Venini S.p.A. of Murano. The most notable piece from this series was the ‘Fungo’ table lamp described by the Grove Art Online as “an original concept in striped glass in which the swelling lampshade and conical base form an integrated unit.”

In the years between 1957 to 1960, Vignelli traveled and studied in the United States. He married Lella, who was studying architecture at the time, in 1957. Lella also worked and specialized in not only architecture, but also furniture, interiors, and household object design to name a few. Shortly after their marriage, Massimo and Lella opened a design studio in Milan primarily creating office accessories and domestic products.

In 1964, the Vignellis moved to Chicago and created Unimark International, which specialized in corporate identity and graphics. Their work at Unimark is descirbed by the Grove Art Online: Massimo Vignelli’s novel use of the Helvetica typeface encouraged its widespread use in the USA. They worked with geometric forms: cubes, pyramids, cylinders and spheres. Their product design was balanced and functional, as exemplified in their line of stacking dinnerware (1964–7) for Heller Designs Inc., New York, made from moulded melamine in a range of brilliant colours (e.g. New York, MOMA). They believed that a designer should be able to produce anything ‘from a spoon to the city’ and executed wide-ranging design programmes, from environmental planning to tableware and packaging, displaying an unusual versatility in a period of specialization.

Corpora Id Unimark and the Vignellis became known for boldly elegant and dynamic corporate graphics. Their clients came to them with a clear knowledge of what they were going to recieve, and this was most likely the use of oversized words and letters as a logotype and branding technique in packaging. Corporate identities they were asked to design at the time included: American Airlines, Knoll international, Ford Motor Company, Bloomingdales, Barneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

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In 1971, Vignelli Associates was formed, after Unimark International went bankrupt. This office was opened in New York. The Vignelliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal style became even more distinct in their designsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; minimal features. The Vignellis created several pieces of furniture for Knoll international including the very innovative and popular handkerchief chair.

Their designs were exhibited globally and the Parsons School of Design devoted an exhibition to their work in 1981. Further work throughout the 1980s featured the design a series of interiors for showrooms, offices, and art galleries. They also redesigned several signage systems and magazines in this time. Throughout these years Vignelli also worked as a professor in several colleges and universities in the United States including Harvardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School of Design and Architecture. In the years following his many awards and accolades, Vignelli began working to leave a legacy in design that allowed others to learn directly from his work. To accomplish this, he first published the book, Vignelli: from A to Z, in 2007, which alphabetized a series of essays written by Massimo himself that described the principles of good design in his opinion. In 2009 The Vignelli Canon was released as a free e-book, making Vignelliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design advice easily accessible to young designers hoping to learn from him. The Vignellis also made a huge contribution to the Rochester Institute of Technology with their 2008 donation of their entire archive of design work. The archive is housed in the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, a building designed by the Vignellis themselves that opened in 2010.

Typefaces Vignelli limited his usage of typefaces to about twelve total. He felt that other typefaces were childish or too boring, and that any of those he chose could tell the story of what he was trying to convey in a better way. David Heller described his

typeface choice in the documentary Design is One, “Massimo has always been a linguist and that’s basically what he does when he only uses 4 typefaces. He’s selecting a vocabulary.”

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