“If you can’t find it, design it”
“The most remarkable thing is their consistency,” says Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum London. “There’s no sense of the passage of time. Their work is not trapped in a style.”
Colophon
Designed: Jenny J Taylor, 2012 Story: Jan Conradi - “Looking Back, Thinking Forward: A Narrative of the Vignellis”
Typeface: Bodoni Images,Text and Inspiration: Vignelli.com, AIGA , New York Magazine, The Design Observirty Group
He is an extrovert. Gregarious, outspoken, delighted to work the crowd that is usually equally delighted to be in the room with him. She is poised, quieter, more reserved, less comfortable with the spotlight though no less deserving of its shine. Together they are confident in their choices, earnest in their vision, and determined to create something 2
lasting in a profession that is too often ephemeral. • Lella and Massimo Vignelli. It is intriguing to think that with a lifetime of effective design solutions, diverse clients, international recognition and professional visibility, the Vignellis are hitting their stride with perhaps their most important work of all. We could say that the Vignellis have now become their
and the search for understanding, culminating in the search for the way to convey this to others; now we can see and experience how they do this for themselves. • Their work — publications and packaging, furniture and products, showrooms and architectural interiors, identity programs and transportation graphics, and more — has been well-documented. The
own client as they are documenting their wealth of experiences, connections, thoughts and pathways. They are branding it with a building as the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT, setting it typographically in the Vignelli Canon, living it in Roberto Guerra’s documentary Design is One — The Vignellis. Massimo always talks about the search for meaning
tangible artifacts, interesting as they may be, offer only a snippet of a larger story. Instead, looking at the Vignellis career trajectory illuminates meaningful realities in design practice. The Vignellis have been where many designers would like to be. A few times they’ve stumbled, more often they have been dramatically successful. There is much for students
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to learn and their focus now is on the students, on the learning, and on the future. • Challenge and Stimulation • The Vignellis have always worked as a team. As a young couple continuing their studies and setting foundations for their lives and careers, they faced timeless questions: What have I learned? What are my capabilities? What challenges are
bouncing our head against the ceiling. After awhile there was no more stimulation in being at the top. We were looking for a higher ceiling. It can be hard….The first two years you feel homesick. You have no friends, you are in a new place, even the food is different.” • Balance and Perseverance • How do I blend my personal and professional life? How do I bal-
big enough? Are there any that are too big? • They established a successful office in Milan, living a life that balanced work and play in a country that they loved, but they gave it up when Massimo became a founder of Unimark International in 1965. They were twentieth-century immigrants, arriving on the dock with furniture, suitcases and trunks, just like previous generations. The fear of the unknown scares people even if the move is simply to a job around the corner. How many of us would make an international leap, tackling language and cultural differences? •“You can leave Milano very easily when you are coming to New York; it was an easy trade,” said Massimo. “We were very successful in Milan and we kept
Like most young couples, they sought independence, breaking away from their families to define themselves as individuals and as a couple. “The greatest part of our work has been growing together,” Lella said. “You must have the same sort of preferences. This is good with us, we are complimentary, we balance. In a relationship, it is important that you don’t let yourself be taken over. We do our own projects but we listen to each other.” She laughed. “I am practical, Massimo is creative but he is disorganized.” “Lella is my brake, my reality, I could not have done this without her,” said Massimo. He laughed too. • Sometimes their partnership was tested, notably when married couples were once discouraged — and
ance family and work responsibilities? How do I believe in myself when others are doubting? How do I progress when obstacles are placed in my path? Are the answers different if I am a woman? • “When we first came over [to the United States] in September of 1957, we were still on honeymoon and we’ve been that way for many years,” said Massimo. 5
often forbidden — to work together in American offices. Unimark too had an official policy against working couples. It was only partially applied for the Vignellis but there was still disparity: Lella’s work was contractual while Massimo held a very public role as a founder and Design Director. Lella might have been responsible for a project but her presence was
somewhat suspect to construction workers on project sites. A mix of exasperation and bitterness is still apparent as she recalls those times. “‘Oh Sweetie, what are you doing, hanging around? We have questions, send your husband,’ they’d say. I was critical when their work was sloppy and they resented that,” she said. In that era, it was harder for a woman to gain
respect and cooperation, simply because she was a woman. • Balancing professional goals and a job with the demands of home and family often was, and is, complicated for women. Men are not immune to these issues, but typically women bear the brunt of work and worry for the family. Lella was no exception as she mothered their two young children, managed the 6
household, kept a watchful eye on business records, and still maintained her own career. “It wasn’t that easy,” she said, “I wanted to focus on my work, but I couldn’t totally. Many times I didn’t trust myself; I was tired, I couldn’t think straight.” Lella worries as their daughter, and other young women, face many of the same concerns. • Looking at Lella’s accomplishments proves that perseverance pays off. “Now is the best time of my life,” she said a few years ago. “I am doing the showrooms; they please me. I am traveling — I have less responsibilities with home, with cooking, with record-keeping. I am in control of myself. Being older helps too.” • The Vignellis often interrupt each other as they finish one another’s sentences or elaborate on a thought. It bothers them both, and it is something they continue to work on, but the habits of a lifetime are hard to break. On the plus side, it is a sign of their constant sharing of information. Their big ideas are developed together, and they are fully understood by both partners. 7
“If you do it right, it will last forever, it’s as simple as that.” -Lella Vignelli
“It’s a matter of discipline, and it starts by looking at the problem and collecting all the available information about it. If you understand the problem, you have the solution. It’s really more about logic than imagination.” -Massimo Vignelli