This one was a bit special. We went to the New York Times building to listen to a talk by the legendary Massimo Vignelli. I have to admit that while he is a legend, I hadn't heard of him before now. So I'm guessing his fame is within American design circles.
Anyway, him and his wife have been designing everything together for the past 60 years. They work in all fields of design, from graphic design to architecture, jewellery, cutlery, clothing, furniture and anything else you can think of. He created the American Airlines identity back in the 60s and tried to get New York to adopt a London style subway map (below)
Unfortunately people still wanted to see the streets so it never took off. They still use the stupid map.
I've got a good shot of Massimo (now in his 80s) in front of his PPT overview which gives a good overview of his work.
To give him credit he was talking and walking around for the best part of two hours, which is pretty sprightly for a man of his age.
The 50s and 60s industrial design work was beautiful, but he did tend to get a little stuck in the 70s, and most of his work since then looks like his 70s work in different materials and for different clients.
Good guy though and good talk. Also, awesome view from the 32 floor of the NY Times building.
(Bit car parky, but then a car park on a sky scraper is kinda cool)
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