Thanks to Lars Müller Publishers, the principles that shaped the career of the late Massimo Vignelli (1931–2014) into one of the 20th century’s great design masters have been made available to us mere mortals. The Vignelli Canon is loaded with the truths he and his firm established and so doggedly followed.

Here’s just one:

We are for a design that lasts, that responds to people’s needs not to people’s wants. We are for a design that is committed to a society that demands long-lasting values, a society that earns the benefit of commodities and deserves respect and integrity. We like the use of primary shapes and primary colors because their formal values are timeless. We like a typography that transcends subjectivity and searches for objective values, a typography that is beyond time—that doesn’t follow trends, that reflects its content in an appropriate manner. We like the economy of design because it avoids wasteful exercises, it respects investment and lasts longer. We strive for a design that is centered on the message rather than visual titillation. We like design that is clear, simple and enduring. And that is what timelessness means in design.

posted by: CK Anderson  |  category: random thoughts  |  comments(1)