Instead of writing two disjointed pieces for this assignment, I found it a great opportunity to analyse the dynamics of the Vignelli duo. Husband and wife, Massimo Vignelli (1931-2014) and Elena (Lella) Valle (1957-2014), achieved a great deal of work together after establishing their own design firm. They are partially responsible for a lot of the successful design we see today. Although they were equally responsible for the success of their designs, it largely seems that Massimo was and is still credited the most recognition between the pair. I aim to discuss why Lella’s role was severely under recognised, how her hurdles still relate to female designers today, and why her influence is significant. 

Lella was born into a family of Architects in Udine, Italy. She inevitably went to Architecture school where she met and married Architect Massimo. Together they travelled to America where Lella was employed and valued as an Interior Designer for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Her time there was short lived when their visa expired and they had to return back home. Once home, they established their own design firm Vignelli Associates and started strong by creating an award winning dinner stacking set made from melamine. As a result, their expertise was continually sort after which highlights how valuable they were. 

As an Italian designer, Lella was experienced with working in different design fields. She was extremely pragmatic and grounded as a designer. Having a multidisciplinary background meant a lot of her designs were very well informed and I believe this is why she was so successful. Her design approach highlights one of subtraction rather than addition; refinement rather than excess. Her maxim in life was “if you do it right, it will last forever”. This motto is commonly mistaken to belong to Massimo even though he is quoted saying it always belonged to Lella (Sellers 2017).

Although working as a team, Lella noted that “there were many meetings with clients when the men spoke directly to Massimo and ignored [her]” (Seiler, Kirkham and Vignelli 2011). The blatant attitude obviously is example of biased gender views expressed from that era. As a result of ongoing unfair treatment, Lella had confessed to feeling resentment towards her own clients (Seiler, Kirkham and Vignelli 2011). Her under recognition is almost insulting especially considering she was balancing motherhood on top of her successful business. If Lella worked as much as the average working mum works today -roughly 98 hours a week (Santos 2018)- it would be rude to suggest she was anything but hardworking.

Having grown up in Udine, its people known for their long silences and few words, Lella was always one to tell it straight. According to Massimo, Lella played an extremely important role from the very beginning of their design life. “[Lella] is not a person-person; she’s the one who will come and say, ‘this is no good’… It’s a critical role” (M. Vignelli 2011). 

1971 was the year they founded Vignelli Associates but previous to that they had already designed everything from furniture to interiors. One of their better known designs in collaboration with Alan Heller was a compact dinner set that took advantage of the lightness and flexibility of melamine resin (Vignelli 2019). The award winning dinner ware can still be seen on the market today and exemplifies modularity, elegance, and most importantly timelessness. The set is a prime example of what it means to be good design (Christoforidou 2012). Its long and successful existence in the market are due to its effectiveness and timeless design. Their calculated refinement prefigured the minimalist aesthetic that was to sweep through design in the following decades (Sellers 2017).

The reoccurring problem I identified still remained in the way their designs were recognised. Many of the works the duo worked on solely recognised Massimo to be the designer. It’s uncertain why this underrepresentation still exists.

Why do I believe Lella was important? Lella was a well rounded designer and her intelligence was translated into informed designs. She practiced the process of subtracting which I believe is the most difficult thing to do as it is always easier to add than to simplify. She could identify and understand the absolute fundamentals of a project, thus, only designed something that was not on the market or was not already well done (Seiler, Kirkham and Vignelli 2011). On top of this, Lella managed to become a mother and sustain a successful business.

To finalise, Lella Vignelli was a significant character in the design field because she focused on the purest of design ideals. She was practical and always followed through with her work. Her strong work ethic shows through her decision to continue working instead of becoming a house wife. The ideas behind her designs were thoroughly thoughtful and well refined. Her designs had a real purpose and fulfilled a need within the market. I feel she is the epitome of the best kind of designer.

References

Christoforidou, Despina. “Good Taste vs Good Design: A Tug of War in the Light of Bling.” The Design Journal15, no. 2 (2012): 185-202.

Santos, Maricar. Working Mother.December 22, 2018. https://www.workingmother.com/when-you-factor-in-family-duties-average-working-mom-works-98-hours-week (accessed April 11, 2019).

Seiler, Melissa, Pat Kirkham, and Lella Vignelli. “Lella Vignelli on Vignelli: Design History, Concepts and Collaboration.” The University of Chicaco Press8, no. 1 (2011): 139-152.

Sellers, Libby. Women Design.London: Quarto, 2017.

Vignelli, Lella, and Massimo Vignelli. Design Within Reach.January 1, 2019. https://www.dwr.com/dining-dinnerware/heller-dinnerware-set/1075.html?lang=en_US (accessed April 8, 2019).

Vignelli, Massimo, interview by Mija Riedel. An Interview With Massimo Vignelli(June 6, 2011).

After considering this entire assignment as a whole, I decided it would be interesting to compare the roles and influences of Elena (1957-2014) and Massimo Vignelli (1931-2014). Although the pair were working collaboratively for decades after establishing their own Architecture and Design firm, I question why and how it came to be that Massimo was ultimately the face of the duo.  Within this piece, I also attempt to describe my own design practice, direction and goals in comparison to Massimo’s.

Good taste and good design – a topic we discussed in class (3 April 2019) that provoked the most conversation and seemed to be the most interesting. After further reading into the topic, I found it made the subject both clearer and more complicated. The ‘line’ that separates supposedly ‘good’ and ‘bad’ design is much more of a squiggly and faded one. “We must remember that what is considered good taste is socially constructed… There is a process or system of people creating the criteria for determining what is to be considered as good taste”  (Christoforidou 2012).

As a current Industrial Design student – one of many – at Monash University, I am surrounded by likeminded individuals. Because we are likeminded, do we not already have a subconscious standard of what we consider ‘good design’ based off our own design ethos? In that case, theoretically most of our ideas and projects that we put forth would be considered as good design by our classmates. I don’t believe this is the case. My belief is as follows: good design is a result of thoughtful thinking and conscious refinement. Thoughtful thinking comes from being educated in an array of areas. Conscious refinement is the ability to practice control. 

Massimo Vignelli was a whole hearted Modernist. With a background in Architecture, he advanced through various design disciplines but most notably in graphics and brand identity. He believed that “cross fertilisation is what enriches everybody, every design”  (Vignelli, An Interview with Massimo Vignelli 2011)and practiced clarity all throughout his work. When working in the United States, his agenda was to rid the world of ugliness and to “crusade for the rest of [his] life to fight vulgarity” (2011). When asked how to define vulgarity, Vignelli replied “a lack of intellectual elegance”. When further asked to define intellectual elegance, he replied “a lack of vulgarity”. He strongly believed his existence revolved around trying to raise the standard of design even if only an inch. Based on universal principles of rationality, Vignelli’s ethos was based on discipline in 

Having never previously known about the existence of Vignelli previous to this assignment, I found that there were already similarities between our design works. For an interface subject in 2015, I was asked to design a poster that delivered statistics in infographic form. The aim was to encourage readers to maintain a level of interest and engagement with the poster (as is the intent of any presentation poster). In this poster I focused on creating concise and clear graphics through the process of elimination. My design decisions ultimately came to asking questions like “does that really need to be included?”. “Well designed objects are easy to interpret and understand” (Norman 1988). It is the process of simplification that is the most difficult because it is always easier to add than it is to subtract. In the case of this poster, it was enormously difficult to identify the most crucial elements to keep and what could be forgone. I believe anybody who can do this right is a great designer.

The posters Vignelli designed for Piccolo Teatro are regarded some of the best pieces of Italian graphic design. It displays “an excellent example of rhythm within order” (Vignelli, Massimo Vignelli 2013)and set design characteristics that have been followed even after all these years. The alternate colours indicated what show was playing at which theatre. The bright red also serves as a way to break up the large amount of information delivered. Vignelli was a strong promoter of the typeface Helvetica. He used the typeface for most of his designs due to its legibility and straightforwardness. The similarities between the two posters include a vertical format of information, clear boundaries for text, and immediate visual impact.

Where I may agree with his stance on the importance of applying intellectual elegance into each and every one of our designs, I don’t believe that I have enough of my own design material to support it yet. The environment created at university is not highly conducive to creating beautiful content just yet, especially not with the time pressures and financial restrictions. This doesn’t mean that I’m not already constantly critiquing the validity and direction of my work. Good design is always the end goal. 

References

Christoforidou, Despina. “Good Taste vs. Good Design: A Tug of War in the Light of Bling.” The Design Journal15, no. 2 (2012): 185-202.

Norman, Donald. The Design of Everyday Things.New York: Doubleday, 1988.

Vignelli, Massimo, interview by Mija Riedel. An Interview with Massimo Vignelli(June 6, 2011).

Vignelli, Massimo, interview by Nicola-Matteo Munari. Massimo Vignelli(September 9, 2013).