Massimo Vignelli 

January 10, 1931 - May 27, 2014

Vignelli was born in Milan, Italy. He is a multi-disciplinary designer specialising in areas ranging from package design through house ware design and furniture design to public signage and showroom design. He established the Vignelli Associates together with his wife, Lella Vignelli in 1971. He studied at Politecnico di Milano. He is a huge fan of using typeface Helvetica which is why it is in all his work. His working style is focused on simplicity through the use of basic geometric forms. An avid fan of modernism, his works are clear and concise with no clutter or unnecessary materials. 

 In 1966, He joined Unimark International, one of the largest designs firm in the world. He majors in identity and branding. He has designed for many famous corporate identities including American Airlines, Bloomingdale's, Knoll and IBM. Vignelli designed the iconic New York City Subway Map and it became a landmark in Modernist design. 

After the New York City Subway Map was introduced, complaints flooded in. Many stations seemed to be in the wrong places. Water surrounding the city was coloured beige, not blue. As for Central Park, it appeared to be square, rather than an elongated rectangle and 3 times bigger than what it appears on the map. The map was riddled with anomalies, but that was the point. Massimo Vignelli had sacrificed geographical accuracy for clarity. He reinterpreted New York's tangled labyrinth of subway lines as a neat diagram. Each station is represented by a dot and is linked to its neighbours by colour-coded routes running at 45 or 90 degrees. 

'' It seemed to me that the whole city of New York was a permanent Vignelli exhibition.'' said by Vignelli's former employee Michael Bierut. 

Massimo Vignelli's works:

NYC Subway Map 

NYC Subway Signage

Bloomingdale's Logo

Bloomingdale's Paper Bag Packaging  

American Airlines Logo

Knoll International Graphic Program Logo

Handkerchief Chair for Knoll Studio

Paperclip Table for Knoll Studio

Heller Dinnerware Packaging 

Heller Dinnerware Set

If you're wondering how an iconic designer's memorial look like: 

Memorial Day in a Church Designed by himself.

Massimo Vignelli's Crematory Urn Designed by himself (again...)

Memorial Invitation Cards Designed by himself 

When his health began deteriorating, he developed a vision of his funeral. Vignelli's memorial is a farewell that he personally designed down to the last detail.It was his last grand project. From choosing the location, the program, the music, the speakers, the guest list to a custom-made crematory urn. He has always imagined his funeral to be grand and even remarked on how much he wants to be there to see it. 

" If you can design one thing, you can design everything. " 

                                                                            -Massimo Vignelli