MASSIMO VIGNELLI

The Timeline Legacy Of A 20th Century

Designer

1931-2014

What made him an Iconic Designer?

The VERSATILITY of his style and

the DIVERSITY of the mediums on which he

designed makes him an ICON OF

GRAPHIC DESIGN history.

His legacy has been immortalized …

Logo Design

Furniture Design Package Design

Book Cover Design

… through the implementation of

his design on business logos, book covers, shopping bags and furniture.

I like design to be semantically correct, syntactically consistent, andpragmatically understandable.

I like it to be visually powerful, intellectually elegant, and above all timeless.

If you can't find it, design it…M

ASS

IMO

VIG

NELLI

Designs that were coherent and created an image of discipline.

Poster for the Fort Worth Art Museum.

Massimo Vignelli served as design consultants to Knoll.

Timeline of Vignelli’s Diverse Designs…

TUMBLERS

1957

1963

PNEUMATICI PIRELLI

STACKING DINNERWA

RE

1964

1967

AMERICAN AIRLINES

NYC SUBWAY

1970

1977

ST. PETERS CHURCH

AUSTRIAN ARCHITECTUR

E

1980

1984

UNFINISHED MODERN

1998

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM

UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON

1995

SAN LORENZO DESIGN

NY SUBWAY MAP

2008

2010

THE VIGNELLI CANON

1957: Tumblers

Three-color striped hand-blown glass designed by

Massimo in 1957.

1963: Pneumatici Pirelli

Advertisement for Pneumatici (Tires). Promotes the safety and reliability of Pirelli tires to a younger,

female customer.

1964: Stacking Dinnerware

The winner of prestigious Compasso d'Oro Award for Good Design, the genius of the design lies in the way it stacks using straight sides

and a small lip on the bottom.

1967: American Airlines

Massimo designed the classic American Airlines Logo with red and blue strips giving a

sense of patriotism. The logo endured for over 40 years.

1970: NYC Subway

The iconic signage for the New York City Subway system

was also designed by Massimo Vignelli in 1970s.

1977: St. Peters Church

The interior of NYC’s Saint Peter's Church was also

designed by Massimo Vignelli.

1980: Austrian Architecture

Massimo introduced a new wave of ‘Austrian

Architecture’ with his aesthetic design skills and

intuitive poster ideas.

1984: Unfinished Modern

Massimo offers inspiration and breathes new life to

contemporary art with his Unfinished Modern

Typography.

1985: Handkerchief Chair

Vignelli Designs brought grace and style to the high density stacking chair with

Handkerchief armless design.

1995: United Colors of Benetton

In the late 90s, Massimo designed a consolidated graphic with the name

“United Colors of Benetton”.

1995: San Lorenzo Design

Massimo Vignelli's passionate and moving homage to his beloved Lella, silver jewelry

for San Lorenzo.

1998: Guggenheim Museum

Guggenheim Museum in Italy got it’s first identity designed

by Vignelli Associates.

2008: NY Subway Map

In 2008, Massimo redid the renowned NY subway Map.

2010: The Vignelli Canon

In 2009 Massimo Vignelli generously released a free pdf document: The Vignelli

Canon.

And, his love for ‘Helvetica’ was so powerful…

You can say I love you in Helvetica.

You can say it with Helvetica

Extra Light if you want to

be really FANCY.

You can say I hate you in Helvetica.

You can say it with Helvetica Extra Dark if you want to be really LOUD.

The Designer with a Modern Vision.

“The life of a designer is a life of fight. Fight against the ugliness. Just like a doctor fights against

disease. For us, the visual disease is what we have

around, and what we try to do is cure it somehow with

design.”

RIP Massimo VignelliYou will not be forgotten!