Who are they? They are icons of Modernism. Massimo Vignelli and Lella Vignelli are a power-couple in graphic design. They are co-founders of Vignelli Associates and Vignelli Designs, which means their designs can be seen in signage, corporate identity logos, furniture, tableware, exhibition spaces, and more. Some say they are the ultimate designers because they have, practically literally, designed everything. If you are a fan of graphic design and/or Modernism, you have to know who these two are.
I was inspired to create a lens on this power couple after I created my lens on the movie Helvetica. Massimo Vignelli was a featured designer in the movie and rightfully so because he was perhaps the greatest fan of the Helvetica typeface. Inspired by learning about his 1972 NYC Subway Map, which has now become a design classic collectible, I decided to look more into him. I was pleasantly surprised to find that his wife is equally well renowned in the design world. My favorite quote is about how they work together as a team; he does 2D while she does 3D. The lenses I’ve created offer many eBay modules for their best known design pieces.
I chose to make the lenses SquidWho lenses because they were about people. I don’t have a specific like or dislike of the layout itself. However, I originally felt that Lella and Massimo should have a page together. Although he is perhaps more well known, they really work as a team. Unfortunately, SquidWho pages always start with “Who is” and “Lella and Massimo Vignelli” got truncated at “Vign…” That would be unacceptable. I was disappointed but had no choice but to break the lens up into two. As a result, many of the modules are the same. Copying the modules was quite time consuming, but I’m happy with the lenses now. Plus two!