MASSIMO AND LELLA VIGNELLI
THE VIGNELLY ASSOCIATES
Biography
Massimo and Lella Vignelli are one of the perfect combinations of love and work in the design industrial. They are both born in northern of country with Tower of Pisa and the famous dishes pizza, and the genius Leonardo de Vinci. Mr. Massimo Vignelli was born in Milan in 1931, and Mrs Lella Vignelli in Udine 1934.
Massimo Vignelli studied architecture at the Polytechnic di Milano University, which still is the largest technical university in Italy and later at the University Iuav of Venice. His first career was a designer of glassware for Venini.
Lella Vignelli was born in Udine, Italy. She graduated from the School of Architecture, University of Venice, and became a registered architect in Milan in1962. After that, Lella worked for architects, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
They were married in 1957 after meeting each other at architects’ convention. Later, in 1960, Massimo and Lella established the Vegnilli office of design and architecture in Milan.
From 1958 to 1960, the Vignelli went to America on a fellowship, Lella received a tuition fellowship as a special student at the School of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge and Massimo taught at the Chicago Institute of Design. In 1965, Lella became the head of the interiors department for Unimark International Corporation in Milan which was established by Ralph Eckerstron and Massimo Vignelli. Unimark International Corporation had designed many recognizable corporate identities including AA (American Airlines in 1967).They both worked in Italia and America.
In 1971, they established the Vignelli Associates in New York, which was for their 2D design. Moreover, they had designed corporate identity programs for Knoll, American Airlines, Bloomingdales, Xerox, Lancia, Cinzano, and Ford Motors.
In 1978, they formed Vignelli Designs, which for the 3D, a company focus on goods and furniture.
In the beginning of this essay, I wrote that they are a perfect combination because Massimo’s Passion is “2D” about graphic and Lella, by her tradition of family, is “3D” Architecture. Massimo is the visionary and she is the realist. With the Vegnilli, a good design is not only just a good looking design but also be able to answer two questions perfectly: Why and How. According to Massimo there are three steps in design’s investigation: search for the structure – its reward is discipline, search for specificity- this produce appropriateness, and finally is search for fun – to create ambiguity.
They have achieved many awards through many years of working, and the significant is the historic AIGA Gold Medal in 1982.
DESIGNS
I chose Vignelli for their realistic and applicable design. According to the course, I attend to choose the 2D graphic is the priority to analyse by my own words.
Knoll International Poster by Vignelli Associates in 1966
This poster was constructed by strictly line and base on “the rule of third”. In my own opinion, structure and colors illustrate the characteristic of Knoll International, furniture’s company work in exactly details in various beautiful colors. The poster basically divided in to 2 part in horizontal, “Kno” and “ll” and parts which take 2/3 approximately be a square and 1/3 of the length of the poster. The height of the letter “o” is 2/3 of the poster’s height. The balance of poster still exists by the full amount of colors in each part and white space in the “Kno” part. The information of the Knoll International was put on the top left of the poster and rotated base on the element of the “K” letter, this part of poster left aligns approximately on the top of the “O” letter, and right align is the top border of the poster. The feelings of unsafe was constructed in the 1/3 part on the top of vertical of poster was stopped by the 2/3 in the bottom, and the lack of elements in the 2/3 part of the poster’s left is pulled up by the 1/3 part on the right.
The colors of this poster seem to be Pop Art palette, which are very famous and widely used from the 1950s. In this poster, designer of Vignelli has used three colors to build the word “Knoll” in the rhythm of dark blue, pink, yellow, pink, dark blue and the black for the information of the Knoll International.
The poster dominance is the “O” letter which is the connector of 2 parts of poster, and its unique color in the poster.
The size of letter in Knoll were changed and move to 3 different layers and move to others with different opacity and fill to create transparent, the highest is blue, middle is pink, the lowest is yellow. One fonts was used is Sans-Serif font which creates the feelings of the serious and official stand for the Knoll International.
American Airline Identity and Branding, by the Vignelli Associates, 1967
The most important element of American Airlines branding is AA eagle logo.
The balance has well constructed in the logo with the eagle, one letter “A” on each side, one in hot color: red the other is in blue, cold color.
In the vertical side, the eagle bottom is approximately put on the first 1/3 of letter “A”.
In the horizontal side, the space between 2 letters “A” creates a triangle and the eagle is put into the middle of the triangle and 1/3 of the eagle was in this triangle.
The rule of Third was well applied to construct this logo.
The end line of the eagle wings is align to the inner stroke of letters “A”
The thick of the wing is equal to the thick of the stroke of letter “A” and the space between 2 “A” letters top equal to 4 times of that thick. The shortest distance between the nearest point of the letter “A” to the wing equal to the thick of wing and ”A” letter stroke size. The inner of the eagle’s wing stroke create an invisible line cross the point of the triangle in the letter “A”. It seems to be complex and strictly combination but it has built very well structure of logo design.
The blue, red and white colors are used in the logo design are inspired by the national flag of the United State of America.
Transportation Graphics for New York Subway, by the Vignelli Associate in 1972
http://www.vignelli.com/vignelli/home/transportation/nysub.html
“If you can’t find it, design it” is a saying of the Vignelli which illustrate their way of design. And the transportation graphic for New York subway is the most significant social applied design. This map created by Massimo replaced the London Underground style map. When Vignelli designed this map the personal computer didn’t exist yet so he has done by hand.
In 1968, Massimo and Bob Noorda of Unimark International, developed a signage plan based on a simple principle: deliver the necessary information at the point of decision, never before, never after
Colors in the map take a very important role, the success of Vignelli map is its abstract: lines are just bend 45 or 90 degrees and every line as a single color, every stop point were illustrated by black dots. They also created a new graphic language for New York subway by the black horizontal line at the top of each sign and colored circles. The basic element of design has been used effectively in this design. More iconic, less of word are easy to understand for everyone. Four years later, in 1972, Vignelli introduced a new version of the map. It was based on principles that would be familiar to anyone has used the old style London Underground map .This map version did not follow the complicated tangle of geographically on the ground above. Train lines would run at 45 and 90 angles only replaced for many angles before. This is a significant of breaking the grid to make a better realistic design. But it failed.
This map just worked for 5 years. The troubles has came, according to Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum London :”There’s no sense of the passage time. Their work is no trapped in a style”- the changing of the Massimo in map has created the messy of distance which shown in the map.
The designers have to deal with many problems of arrangement to make easier for user to define where they are and which train they will take.
Some of famous speaks of Massimo that I collected from his interview of Designboom on May 21st 2006
When you were a child, did you want to become a designer / architect ?
Since I was 14 years old I had no other desire.
Any advice for the young ?
Learn form the past , think of the present , dream of the future
What are you afraid of regarding the future
Global pollution, explosion of vulgarity and social irresponsibility
REFERENCES
Massimo Vignelli, http://www.kettererkunst.com/bio/massimo-vignelli-1931.shtml, KETTERER KUNST website, viewed July 30, 2008.
Unimark International,Unimark International Beginnings,http://www.unimark-international.com/beginnings1.html#beginnings1,Unimark International website , viewed July 30, 2008.
Aiga,Crouwel/Vignelli,2007, http://aigany.org/events/details/08CV/, viewed July 30, 2008.
Designboom, massimo vignelli of vignelli associates, 2006 ,Design boom website,,http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/vignelli.html, viewed July 30, 2008.
Bierut, Michael, Mr. Vignelli's Map, 2004, http://www.designobserver.com/archives/entry.html?id=218, viewed July 30, 2008.
R.Brown ,David; Davis, Wylie ; DeNeve ,Rose, Massimo and Lella Vignelli, copyright 1983 by the American Institue of Graphic Arts, http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-massimoandlellavignelli, viewed July 30, 2008.
V. Lovine ,Julie, The Vignellis
In an instant, their pared-down designs—for the subway, Bloomingdale’s, American Airlines—conjure a particular moment in the city’s history. ,2007,New York Home Design website ,http://nymag.com/homedesign/fall2007/39597/ ,viewed July 30,2008
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