THE VIGNELLI CANON THE VIGNELLI CANON Massimo Vignelli We thank our friend Sheila Hicks This book is affectionately dedicated to Lella, for her assistance in editing of the text. my wife and professional partner. Together we shared our intellectual experiences Book design: Massimo Vignelli with Beatriz Cifuentes and growing process from the very beginning of our professional lives. Her creative intuition and sharp criticism have enriched my life and have been the structural strength of our collaboration, without which my work would have been worth much less. 4 Josheph Müller-Brockmann Introduction At the request of the publisher of this book I started to look in to the meaning of such a publication and recognized that it could become a useful instrument for a better understanding of typography in Graphic Design. This little book reveals our guidelines - those set by ourselves for ourselves. In several teaching situations I remarked the lack of some basic typographic principles in young designers. I thought that it might be useful to pass some of my professional knowledge around, with the hope of improving their design skills. Creativity needs the support of knowledge to be able to perform at its best. Federico Gene It is not the intention of this little book to stifle creativity or to reduce it to a bunch of rules. It is not the formula that prevents good design Willy Fleckhaus from happening but lack of knowledge of the Alan Fletcher complexity of the Design profession. It’s up to the brain to use the proper formula to achieve the desired result. With great pleasure I look back to all the moments when I learned something new in typography, either from a Master or from fellow practitioners. To have learned about disciplined design from my Swiss fellows, to have learned about the white space from my American fellows, to have learned Fletcher Alan about the forceful impact of type from my German fellows, to have learned about wit from my English fellows, and then even more from fellows everywhere. That beautiful feeling of enrichment that comes from new discoveries, new ways of doing the same thing better than before. It is my hope that this book may provide that feeling, or in any case confirm and reaffirm those guidelines that we designers love to set for ourselves. 6 Part One Semantics The Intangibles Syntactics Pragmatics Discipline Appropriateness Ambiguity Design is One Visual Power Intellectual Elegance Timelessness Responsibility Equity 8 Semantics I have always said that there are three aspects in the semantic search through a complex process, Design that are important to me: most of which is intuitive, to infuse the design with Semantic, Syntactic and Pragmatic. all the required cognitive inputs, effortlessly and in the most natural way possible. It is as in music, Let’s examine them one at the time. when we hear the final sound, without knowing Semantics, for me, is the search of the meaning of all the processes through which the composer whatever we have to design. has gone before reaching the final result. Design The very first thing that I do whenever I start a without semantics is shallow and meaningless new assignment in any form of design, graphic, but, unfortunately it is also ubiquitous, and that product, exhibition or interior is to search for is why it is so important that young designers the meaning of it. That may start with research train themselves to start the design process in the on the history of the subject to better understand correct way- the only way that can most enrich the nature of the project and to find the most their design. appropriate direction for the development Semantics, in design, means to understand the of a new design. subject in all its aspects; to relate the subject to Depending on the subject the search can take the sender and the receiver in such a way that it many directions. It could be a search for more makes sense to both. It means to design something information about the Company, the Product, that has a meaning, that is not arbitrary, that the Market Position of the subject, the has a reason for being, something in which every Competition, its Destination, the final user, or detail carries the meaning or has a precise purpose indeed, about the real meaning of the subject and aimed at a precise target. How often we see design its semantic roots. that has no meaning: stripes and swash of color It is extremely important for a satisfactory result splashed across pages for no reason whatsoever. of any design to spend time on the search of the Well, they are either meaningless or incredibly accurate and essential meanings, investigate vulgar or criminal when done on purpose. their complexities, learn about their ambiguities, Unfortunately, there are designers and marketing understand the context of use to better define the people who intentionally look down on the parameters within which we will have to operate. consumer with the notion that vulgarity has In addition to that it is useful to follow our a definite appeal to the masses, and therefore intuition and our diagnostic ability to funnel the they supply the market with a continuos flow of research and arrive to a rather conscious definition crude and vulgar design. I consider this action of the problem at hand. criminal since it is producing visual pollution that Semantics are what will provide the real bases is degrading our environment just like all other for a correct inception of projects, regardless of types of pollution. Not all forms of vernacular what they may be. Semantics eventually become communication are necessarily vulgar, although an essential part of the designer’s being, a crucial very often that is the case. Vulgarity implies a component of the natural process of design, and blatant intention of a form of expression that the obvious point of departure for designing. purposely ignores and bypasses any form of Semantics will also indicate the most appropriate established culture. In our contemporary world form for that particular subject that we can it becomes increasingly more difficult to find interpret or transform according to our intentions. honest forms of vernacular communication as 10 However, it is important to distill the essence of once existed in the pre-industrial world. W RW NR W N 44W5R5 66 4RN5 6 W N 4 R5 6 4 5N6 Syntactics 4 5 6 Mies, my great mentor said: “God is in the details.” 2 2 2 E 2 New York E City2 Subway Diagram 2008 E 2 E W R E N 4 5 6 That is the essence of syntax: the discipline How to use this Diagram W Free Transfer Station Inwood/207 St, Manhattan to Ozone Pk-Lefferts Blvd or Far Rockaway, Queens Astoria/Ditmars Blvd, Queens to Whitehall St, Manhattan Van Cortland Park/242 St, Bronx to South Ferry, Manhattan This diagram represents all lines and stations of the New York City Subway system. R Express in Manhattan and Brooklyn; Local in Queens Local Local It is not a geographical map: relative distances have been altered in favor of better legibility. N A Rush Hours: Serves Rockaway Park, Queens; Late Nights: Local W Weeknights after 9pm, Late Nights and Weekends: No service 1 4 5 6 However, attention has been given to preserve the relative position of each station. Each route is represented by a colored line labeled with a letter or number at either end, Pedestrian Link Washington Heights/168 St, Manhattan to Euclid Ave, Brooklyn Astoria/Ditmars Blvd, Queens to Coney Island, Brooklyn Wakefield/241 St, Bronx to Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn and at intervals in between. 2 Local Local in Queens; Express in Manhattan and Brooklyn Express in Manhattan; Local in Bronx and Brooklyn C Late Nights: No service N Late Nights: Local in Manhattan and Brooklyn 2 Late Nights: Wakefield/241 St, Bronx to Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn Stations on each line are indicated by dots. Free transfers can be made between E Weekends: Local in Manhattan that controls the proper use of grammar in the F G F G adjacent dots at the same station or between stations connected by pedestrian links. F G Local lines show dots at all stations; express lines show dots only at express stations. F G Terminal Station Jamaica Center, Queens to World Trade Center, Manhattan Midtown-57 St/7 Ave, Manhattan to Coney Island, Brooklyn Harlem/148 St, Manhattan to New Lots Ave, Brooklyn F G A solid dot indicates that trains will always stop; no dot indicates that trains will never stop; 2 Express in Queens, Local in Manhattan Express in Manhattan; Local in Brooklyn Express in Manhattan, Local in Brooklyn a hollow dot indicates that trains will only stop outside of rush hours. F G E Late Nights: Local Q 3 Late Nights: No service E This diagram is not an official publication of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Part Time Service 145 St, Manhattan to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn Forest Hills/57 Ave, Queens to Bay Ridge/95 St, Brooklyn Woodlawn, Bronx to Crown Heights/Utica Ave, Brooklyn Stop is skipped during rush hours, peak direction only Local in upper Manhattan; Express in midtown Manhattan and Brooklyn Local Local in Bronx; Express in Manhattan and Brooklyn construction of phrases and the articulation of a B Rush Hours: Bedford Park Blvd, Bronx to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn R Late Nights: 36 St to Bay Ridge/95 St, Brooklyn 4 Late Nights: Woodlawn, Bronx to New Lots Ave Brooklyn, Local Part Time Extension Weeknights after 9 pm and Weekends: No service Line is extended during certain hours Norwood-205 St, Bronx to Coney Island, Brooklyn 8 Ave, Manhattan to Canarsie/Rockaway Parkway, Brooklyn Dyre Ave, Bronx to Bowling Green, Manhattan; Local in Bronx, Express in Manhattan 5151 StSt LexLex51 St AveAve Local Station Local in Bronx, Express in Manhattan and Brooklyn Local Rush Hours: Nereid Ave or Dyre Ave, Bronx to Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn; Lex Ave51 St L i g h t t y p e D Rush Hours: Express in Bronx (peak direction only) L 5 Express in Brooklyn; Express in Bronx, peak direction only 51Lex St Ave FLexG Ave 51 St Late Nights: Dyre Ave.