The Connector sat down with graphic design legend Massimo Vignelli on Saturday afternoon to discuss his experience at SCAD over the past few weeks.
Vignelli, creator of Bloomingdale’s and American Airlines logos as well as the New York City subway map system, led a workshop with graphic design students where they created mock branding designs for the High Museum of Art. He said that some of the designs that students presented were better than the museum’s current design.
“[Students] this quarter have received a gift, the gift of knowledge, from an artist who has so much behind him, but yet he took the time to share with [students] his knowledge and make it productive,” said Associate Vice President of SCAD Atlanta Dr. Teresa Griffis, at the graphic design workshop.
Massimo Vignelli, born in Milan, studied architecture in Milan and Venice. In 1960 he established the Vignelli Office of Design and Architecture with his wife, Lella. Five years later, he became co-founder and design director of Unimar International. He also established Vignelli Associates in New York in 1971.
His work includes graphic and corporate identity design, publication design, architectural graphics and consumer product designs for numerous American and European companies. His work has been included in multiple permanent collections at museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.
“ [Vignelli is] a modernist pioneer in the history of graphic design,” said professor of graphic design Barry Roseman.
After the past three weekends of workshops, which Vignelli conducted at SCAD, he said he was delighted to find that the graphic design students and faculty are producing exceptional works. “[Students] are very lucky,” said Vignelli. “SCAD’s graphic design department is on a different level, and this is not common.”
Vignelli said that he had also been to the Savannah location and found both to be exceptional, but that he prefers Atlanta because of his recent experiences there. “Both schools are good, particularly here in Atlanta, because I’m more familiar with the teachers, and in terms of design approach, I found [Atlanta] to be quite congenial — more so than other schools. I have nothing but praise,” Vignelli said. He also had nothing but praise for the recent publication of “SCAN.”
Upon arriving at SCAD Atlanta, Vignelli said that he found the latest “SCAN” issue in his room and was immediately drawn by the design. He explained that there aren’t very many universities that, by his standards, produce high quality student-run magazines. “Back home I get a lot of university magazines from Yale, [Rochester Institute of Technology], Harvard and Pratt,” Vignelli said. “So, I have a really good vision of what kind of student publications are going around. I must say, generally with few exceptions, it’s rather abysmal. Some are below commercial design, even vulgar design.”
He continued, “I was so pleased to pick up the magazine and see the cover was very nice, and the inside was equally well done. I said, ‘My God, this is the best magazine I’ve seen in a very long time.’ I realized that they do things right here, and to know it was all done by students, I was so very pleased. “SCAN” magazine is great, this is a good place; you can be proud of it.”
Vignelli said he was very excited to spend time with students and faculty at SCAD Atlanta. When asked if he would ever consider hiring a SCAD Atlanta graduate, he responded that, if he were hiring, he would take any of the graphic design students that he oversaw during the workshop. He gave continual praise for the most recent publication of SCAN magazine and said that he looks forward to seeing the new issue next quarter.