![]() "And it depicted the city and its signature elements like Central Park and the waterways in a fashion more reflective of reality - the park wasn’t square, as on the earlier map, and the water wasn’t beige. Hertz’s firm came up with included streets, neighborhoods and other surface reference points," writes Neil Genzlinger for the NYT. Award-winning author and illustrator Emiliano Ponzi uses trains, subway stations, and the New York City skyline to tell the story of how the great graphic designer Massimo Vignelli created a new, easy-to-navigate subway map in 1972. Courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York. stood by New Yorkers and out-of-towners alike. It has remained the basis for all subsequent maps issued until today. Michael Hertz Associates provided a new design, featuring more geographically correct lines, which was ultimately published in June 1979 in time for the subway's 75-year anniversary. His map includes major streets, neighbourhoods and landmarks and is used even today, though updated and revised various times, gradually expanding as the city grew. In the end, their work is not about what matters now but what matters years from now.In an effort to boost ridership, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, North America's largest public transportation network, formed a committee under the leadership of John Tauranac in the mid-1970s to create a new, more appealing map for the New York City subway system and replace the iconic, Massimo Vignelli-designed - yet impractical and not universally loved - map in service at the time. On the other side are the champions of the more organic Subway Map made in 1979 by the American graphic designer Michael Hertz and based on geography. ![]() “They make beautiful things that have real staying power, but that process also involves trial and error. “See, their work is not just about a trend, or the flavor of the month,” says Brew. discontinued the Vignelli map in the late 70s, it never really left New York’s consciousness (a copy hangs in the Museum of Modern Art), and two years ago the Vignellis were brought back in to design the M.T.A.’s digital Weekender site, based on their original design. Canonized as a work of modern art and beloved by many, the Vignelli map also drew harsh criticism by commuters who wanted more geographical “information.” Although the M.T.A. After being commissioned in the early 70s-before the personal computer-Massimo did all of their subterranean drawings by hand (“I’m the pencil,” he says, “Lella’s the criticism”), which included a stunning, minimalist subway map. ![]() Here, in this exclusive clip from the film, Massimo revisits their work for the New York City Transit Authority. They live with what they’ve created.” And after you watch Design Is One, it’s almost impossible to walk anywhere in this city and not see something the Vignellis had a hand in. “They live with their designs-they set their table, eat off their plates, drink from their glasses, sit in their chairs. ![]() “Design is totally integrated into their daily life, even down to making a spaghetti lunch together,” says Kathy Brew. Their enthralling documentary Design Is One: Lella & Massimo Vignelli opens tomorrow for a weeklong run at the IFC Film Center in New York City and goes beyond the duo’s epic portfolio to reveal the intimate dynamic of their long-lived partnership. Their influence is everywhere, and yet their focus has always been on the work rather than themselves.įilmmakers Kathy Brew and Roberto Guerra, another collaborating couple, set out to change that. Juggling several projects at once, they created many of corporate America’s most recognizable logos (Ford, Bloomingdales, American Airlines), in addition to furniture, books, magazines, posters, architectural graphics, interiors, glassware, dinnerware, jewelry, and, perhaps most conspicuously, the signage for the entire New York City subway system. Collaborating (and married) for more than five decades, the Vignellis moved to New York from Italy in the 60s and immediately established themselves as designers without borders. “Everything that surrounds us has been designed by somebody,” says Massimo Vignelli, “and most of the time badly.” Fortunately in New York City, at almost every turn we’re graced with the indelibly crisp, iconic imagery of Italian-born design duo Lella and Massimo Vignelli.
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