Who is Massimo Vignelli
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Lella and Massimo Vignelli: Icons of Modernist Design
Massimo Vignelli is one half of the Modernist Design power-couple. Lella Vignelli and Massimo Vignelli may be the ultimate designers of all time. They have designed virtually everything from maps and logos to furniture and tableware. Their artistic style and philosophy is distinctly Modernist, and it is impossible to discuss Modernism without talking about the Vignellis. The Vignellis currently reside in New York City.
Image from AIGA.
Image from AIGA.
Page Overview
For quick page navigation, click on the links below. You will be able to find many examples of the Vignelli's classic designs in the Vignelli Associates and the Vignelli Designs section. Many items may also be available for purchase.
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Who is Massimo Vignelli?
Born in Milan, Italy, in 1931, Massimo Vignelli knew he wanted to be a designer and architect since he was 14. He studied architecture at Politecnico di Milano and Universita di Architettura, Venice. From 1957-1960, Massimo Vignelli was in America on a fellowship from Towle Silversmiths, Massachusetts and the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. After this short stint in America, he returned to Milan to establish the Vignelli Office of Design and Architecture in 1960.In 1965, Massimo Vignelli with Bob Noorda and Jay Doblin formed Unimark International, what would become one of the world's largest design firms. The firm focused on designing and redesigning corporate identities, among other things. However, the company only lasted 13 years. With wife Lella Vignelli, he later formed Vignelli Associates in 1971 and Vignelli Designs in 1978.
Massimo and Lella Vignelli are known for working as a team with Massimo focusing on 2D and Lella designing the 3D -- He's the visionary: "I talk of feelings, possibilities, what a design could be." She's the realist: "I think of feasibility, planning, what a design can be."
Awards:
- 2005, Architecture Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, NY.
- 2004, the Visionary Award from the Museum of Art and Design, New York.
- 2003, the National Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Museum of Design at Cooper-Hewitt, New York.
- 1996, Honorary Royal Designer for Industry Award, Royal Society of Arts, London.
- 1995, the Brooklyn Museum Design Award for Lifetime Achievement.
- 1993, New York State Governor's Award for Excellence.
- 1992, Interior Product Designers Fellowship of Excellence.
- 1991, National Arts Club Gold Medal for Design.
- 1988, Interior Design Hall of Fame.
- 1985, first Presidential Design Award, presented by President Ronald Reagan, for the National Park Service Publications Program.
- 1983, AlGA Gold Medal.
- 1982, New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame.
- 1973, American Institute of Architects (AIA) Industrial Arts Medal.
- 1964, 1998 Compasso d'Oro from Italian Association for Industrial Design (ADI).
- 1964, Gran Premio Triennale di Milano.
Image from Publicolor.
Massimo Vignelli
Learn from the past, think of the present, dream of the future.
See Massimo Vignelli in Helvetica
Learn about Lella Vignelli
Books on the Vignellis
Hear the Vignellis Talk About Design
Recent News on the Massimo Vignelli
- The Subway Map Is Not Entirely Accurate
- By Noreen Malone In 1972, a designer named Massimo Vignelli created the New York City subway map, with a 1979 resdesign that only amplified the nearly universal acclaim for the work. Forty years later, John Tauranac, the guy in charge of the redesign ...
- How Italian Designers Left Their Imprint on Global Graphic Design
- Rightly or wrongly, those furious New Yorkers had rebuffed the efforts of a gifted Italian designer, Massimo Vignelli, to impose his desire for visual order on their subway. Not that this setback stopped him or his compatriots from deploying their ...
- Nordic 2012: Fez's Phil Fish on where games fit between art and design
- Fish went on to name the legendary designers that had influenced him: Saul Bass, Massimo Vignelli, Charles & Ray Eames and Dieter Rams. After reciting Dieter's well-known 10 Principles of Good Design, Fish spoke how he had been influenced by a talk Ico ...
- Artistic Wallpaper Made From Vintage New York Transit System Materials [NY ...
- The collection spans from faithful recreations of Grand Central Blueprints and the Massimo Vignelli Subway map to more abstract patterns created with the subway train line letters. The select products that make up the collection can be ordered and ...
Vignelli Associates
Vignelli Associates was formed in 1971 by Lella and Massimo Vignelli. It's work is focused primarily on graphic design. A list of their clients can be found on their website.
1972 New York City Subway Map
Vignelli's designs can be seen all over New York City but nowhere is it more prominent than the New York Subway system. The clear, bold signs are classic Massimo. His 1972 subway map was a revolution of sorts, modeled after the style of London's subway map, with colors representing the lines, and everything ordered to right angles and 45 degrees. Find this iconic, out of print, graphic design original here.
Vignelli Designs
Vignelli Designs was founded in 1978 by Lella and Massimo Vignelli primarily to focus on furniture and product design. A list of clients can be found on the Vignelli Associates website.
Classic Chairs
The Vignelli Knoll Handkerchief Stacking Chair is a design classic. Their Heller Chair is also extremely elegant as well as functional. The gray Vignelli Cube is the newest classic. These chairs are must-haves for an Modern interior.
Elegant Tables
The Knoll Paperclip Table is an oft cited Vignelli classic. Another popular table is the Acerbis Cresco Table, though Vignelli Designs has created several more notable tables.
Modern Tableware
Vignelli Designs created a very popular line of dinnerware with Heller. The bold colors and shapes of the platters, bowls, and mugs make them timeless representations of Modernism.
Find More Vignelli Designs Products
- Buy the Stendig Calendar from Unica Home
- The Stendig calendar, designed in 1966, is instantly recognizable.
- Pierre Junod Watches from Quest O Design
- Beautiful watch designs with both single and dual times.
- Full List of Vignelli Products from Unica Home
- Cabinets, calendars, chairs, tables, pens, books, cufflinks, and more.
- Dinnerware from Design Within Reach
- Classic Heller dinnerware set.
- Tables and Chairs from Heller
- Find the Handkerchief Stacking Chair and Paperclip Table.
- Vignelli Collection from Adirondack Furniture
- Get the full Vignelli collection with the cube, low table, and bench.
Vignelli Designs
If you can't find it, design it.
Links about Massimo Vignelli
- Official Homepage of Vignelli Associates
- I like design to be semantically correct, syntactically consistent, and pragmatically understandable.
- Massimo Vignelli on Wikipedia
- Massimo Vignelli (born 1931) is a designer who has done work in a number of areas ranging from package design to furniture design to public signage to showroom design through Vignelli Associates, which he co-founded with his wife Lella.
- Interview with Designboom
- Designboom interviewed Massimo Vignelli on May 21st, 2006.
- Article on the Vignellis by New York Home Design
- In an instant, their pared-down designs-for the subway, Bloomingdale's, American Airlines-conjure a particular moment in the city's history. Massimo and Lella Vignelli have a saying: "If you can't find it, design it." And it's not just a saying.
- Massimo and Lella Vignelli Win AIGA Medal
- The Vignellis, Massimo and Lella, stand at the peak of their profession. During the past 20 years, their design output has been prodigious in quantity, far-ranging in media and scope and consistent in excellence.
by mosaic
I first came across Massimo Vignelli when his 1972 NYC Subway Map was being updated for Men's Vogue. Coincidentally, a few days later, I saw him in a great... more »
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