Books on Designers

3 Books by Lella Vignelli

December 29, 2016

Three books highlighting the work of pioneering Italian-born designer Lella Vignelli (d. December 22, 2016), who with her husband, Massimo Vignelli (a Designers & Books book list contributor), founded Vignelli Associates.

San Lorenzo necklace, designed by Lella Vignelli, 1995. Pieces are connected by small pivoting joints and can be transformed and varied in different shapes and combinations. From Hall of Femmes: Lella Vignelli, courtesy of Hall of Femmes

Lella and Massimo Vignelli: Two Lives, One Vision Jan Conradi

Lella and Massimo Vignelli: Two Lives, One Vision is a portrait of two important 20th-century designers whose careers intertwined since the 1950s. The Vignellis promote a modernist philosophy of designing for a better society: resourceful use of space and materials, clear communication, lasting quality, and logical functionality.

Through a mix of archival research and personal interviews with Lella, Massimo, and their many colleagues and clients, Jan Conradi documents the Vignellis’ nuanced approach to “cleaning up” an often chaotic and messy society by adhering to a minimalist and structured design method.

The Vignellis’ lifetime commitment to a world of design is marked by vibrant client relationships and unwavering attention to detail. With wit, grace, focus, and finesse, the Vignellis’ sustained pattern of working and living has influenced, and continues to inspire, generations of designers worldwide.

Hall of Femmes: Lella Vignelli Samira Bouabana
Angela Tillman Sperandio

From the Publisher. The Italian architect and designer Lella Vignelli has turned her hand to every kind of project, from furniture, interiors, showrooms, and exhibitions to product design, silverware, and clothing. In the beginning of the 1960s she established the Vignelli Office of Design and Architecture in Milan together with her husband, Massimo Vignelli. In the end of the decade the pair settled in New York and launched one of the world’s biggest design firms at the time, Unimark International. Lella Vignelli received the AIGA Gold Medal in 1983. Hall of Femmes: Lella Vignelli includes an introductory essay by Martha Scotford, Professor of Graphic Design and author of Cipe Pineles: a Life of Design. It is richly illustrated, much of it never before published.

Lella and Massimo Vignelli: Design is One Massimo Vignelli
Lella Vignelli

From the Publisher: Lella and Massimo Vignelli prove that design should be semantically correct, syntactically consistent, and pragmatically understandable, but also visually powerful, intellectually elegant, and timeless. The book shows that real meanings must be researched and consistent throughout a design, and that the final result must be understandable.

Design as a complete, or perfect statement is paramount in this designer's philosophy. Featuring design for corporate identity, packaging, post design, interior design, architectural graphics, book and magazine design, furniture design, and product design, many with instant global recognition.

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