The Trained Eye Never Tires

Massimo Vignelli in conversation with Chris Campbell

Massimo Vignelli is one who really earned it. From the start he had to work at his obsession. And his obsession was design—in all its forms and functions. But he is no cookie cutter designer. His decades-long quest for new ways to meet essential human needs through smarter, more cohesive, and elegant design has changed the course of daily life for millions of people.

Massimo Vignelli on discovery
I thought architects were doing buildings and that’s it. Instead I discovered that they could do anything because the premise is basically the same. And that to me was fascinating. Of course I was very curious to see how I would do a chair, how would I do a printed thing, how would I do a poster, how would I do an interior...

Massimo Vignelli on subtraction
Subtraction is a good lesson and was the most important one in my life; and of course there were many others, the relationship of an architect and his environment, his social commitments, so on and so forth.

Massimo Vignelli on design’s role in business
A company is a vehicle on four wheels: one is the financial wheel, the second is production, the third is marketing, and the fourth is design. If any one of these tires goes flat, the vehicle doesn’t move, you know.

Massimo Vignelli on research
Don’t wait for a client or for a job to go out and do research; do it all the time. Everything around you is a very good pretext for continued analysis, you know, and then you file it away.