Vignelli's Canon

Book Cover

Massimo Vignelli’s Canon is a short book outlining his views on graphic design and how he approaches his personal design. In Vignelli’s practice, only six fonts are used consistently, this is because he believes these are the only usable fonts for modernist design. His designs are made appropriate via the research he conducts on each company; Vignelli always aims to create a timeless design and believes this can be done with a minimalistic approach. This can be seen in the American Airlines branding, he describes this in the book as timeless. The logotype remained for years, although shortly after Vignelli’s death they rebranded. This makes me question Vignelli’s design practice and his beliefs, was his design really timeless or was Vignelli’s practice based around the idea he could destroy a brand though slating their visuals. I believe in some of the values they have such as minimalism representing modernist design, and how sticking to minimal typefaces can lead to its successful branding which may not need changing – thus creating a solid brand identity.