Pederal Design Library 11 
 
 A series presenting information and ideas 
 
 related to federal design 
 
 National Endowment for the Ai 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/gridstheirmeaninOOvign 
 
Federal Design Library 
 
 A series presenting information and ideas 
 
 related to federal design 
 
 Massimo Vignelli 
 
 Grids: Their meaning and use for federal designers 
 
 Based on a presentation to the Second Studio Seminar for 
 Federal Graphic Designers, November 10, 1976 
 
 National Endowment for the Arts 
 
About Grids 
 
 The Federal Design Improvement Program, 
 National Endowment for the Arts, recom- 
 mends the grid as a device that can save the 
 government time and money and take the 
 guesswork out of graphic communication. It 
 has been used successfully for many years in 
 the commercial sector and is fast becoming a 
 design resource throughout government. 
 
 What is a grid? The NASA standards manual 
 defines it as "a predetermined understructure 
 that the designer can employ to give the publi- 
 cation cohesive style and character. It is a 
 great organizer of material . . . and will save 
 countless manhours in execution." 
 
 Besides NASA, scores of Federal agencies 
 have established the grid as a framework for 
 their overall communication systems. 
 
 Do grids restrict designers? No. On the con- 
 trary, they are considered as an aid to the 
 creative process. The Labor Department 
 standards manual states: "The grid system ii 
 not intended to restrict design creativity. 
 Rather, the various grids will assist the de- 
 signer in organizing the visual information in 
 the most effective manner." 
 
About the Author 
 
 Massimo Vignelli was born in Milan in 1931 
 and studied at Brera Academy of Art, Milan, 
 and the School of Architecture of the 
 University of Venice. 
 
 He has been a member of the Italian 
 Association for Industrial Design (ADI) since 
 its founding in 1 956 and served on its Board 
 of Directors from 1 960 to 1 964. 
 
 In 1967 he was elected a member of the 
 Alliance Graphique Internationale. 
 
 From 1961 to 1965 he was a member of the 
 Study Group of the International Council of 
 Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID); in 
 1976/77 he was President of the American 
 Institute of Graphic Arts and Vice President 
 of the Architectural League of New York 
 (1973-1977). 
 
 Currently he is a Trustee of the Institute for 
 Architecture and Urban Studies. 
 
 Mr. Vignelli has taught at the Institute of 
 Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology, 
 Chicago (1958-1959), and the Design 
 Schools of Milan (1960-1964) and Venice 
 (1962-1964), the School of Architecture of 
 Columbia University, New York (1967-1968), 
 and the Philadelphia College of Art (1969), 
 and he has been Andrew Mellon visiting 
 professor at Cooper Union in New York. 
 
 His awards include the Towie Silversmiths 
 Fellowship for product design (1957), the 
 Compasso d'Oro for product design (1964), 
 and the Grand Prix Triennale di Milano for 
 graphic design (1964). 
 
 Examples of his graphic and product design 
 are in the permanent collection of the 
 Museum of Modern Art, New York. A 
 traveling exhibition of his work has been 
 organized by the Museum. 
 
 In 1960, Mr. and Mrs. Vignelli established the 
 Massimo and Leila Vignelli Office of Design 
 and Architecture in Milan, as consultant 
 designers for graphics, products, furniture 
 and interiors for major European companies 
 and institutions. 
 
 Mr. Vignelli's work is represented in 
 numerous significant design magazines and 
 books in the United States and abroad. 
 
 In 1965, he cofounded Unimark International, 
 a corporation for Design and Marketing, of 
 which he was a Director and Senior Vice 
 President for Design. 
 
 Since 1971 , he has been President of 
 Vignelli Associates, New York, with liaison 
 offices in Paris and Milan. The firm is 
 currently involved in design of corporate 
 graphics, publications, architectural and 
 transportation graphics, packaging, exhibition 
 interiors, furniture and products for both 
 American and European companies. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Vignelli were awarded the 1973 
 Industrial Arts Medal by the American 
 Institute of Architects. 
 
All the work I do is based on grids. I can't 
 design anything without a grid. I am so 
 accustomed to using a grid that I use it for 
 everything, even for stationery. The grid 
 provides the tool for quick solutions. Without 
 a grid I'm desperate; I have no starting point. 
 With a grid I can do a 150-page book in one 
 day— layout, sketching, every picture in it; 
 without sketching I can do a 300-page book 
 in one day. Without the grid I couldn't do it. 
 
 A grid is nothing more than a tool. Once 
 accustomed to using that tool, a designer 
 can use it very profitably. I know that 
 particularly in this country, where people are 
 not trained to use grids, there is a certain 
 amount of fear about this tool and how to use 
 it. Generally speaking the grid is a great help 
 not only for qualified super-professionals, but 
 for anyone just out of school. It's much easier 
 to arrive at a good, civilized, professional 
 design with a grid than without a grid. The 
 grid makes the designer the master of his 
 own tools, which are defined for each new 
 project. It's a great thing. The designer can 
 choose the most appropriate grid for the job 
 or work with a grid that is already 
 established, knowing that it has been 
 devised to cover certain contingencies, a 
 certain range of problems. That grid can be 
 used appropriately in the way that best fits 
 one's own taste. 
 
 One of the first considerations in establishing 
 a grid is the nature of the material that must 
 be designed. In establishing the grid, the 
 designer must know whether the material will 
 be text only or heavily illustrated. In each 
 case the grid must be designed in a specific 
 way. If the material is mostly text, the grid will 
 be based on picas; if the material is mostly 
 photographic, it will be organized in inches. 
 There is still this tremendous nonsense that 
 two major areas in the preparation of printed 
 matter are working with a completely 
 different set of standards: Photographers, 
 engravers, binders all work with inches; 
 printers work with picas. It doesn't make any 
 sense, but that's the way it is for the time 
 being. 
 
The grid design must be related to the size of 
 the material. If the material is mostly 
 photographic, and the photographs are 
 mostly rectangular, obviously the grid design 
 will not be based on squares, because then 
 every page will be a problem. A rectangular 
 photograph will probably dictate a 
 rectangular grid. If most of the material is 
 square, then the grid will have to be square. 
 If the photographs are both rectangular and 
 square, the grid must be a grid for all 
 seasons; it must represent a compromise. 
 
 The next decision is the number of columns. 
 A grid of four columns gives great flexibility. 
 For instance, there can be two columns each 
 two modules wide, or there can be one 
 column for illustration and then three 
 columns for text. There can be any number 
 of variations of that kind. 
 
 Then an area is assigned for headlines. The 
 headline can be placed with a large body of 
 text, leaving a column of space perhaps for 
 photographs. Placement will vary from job to 
 job, from assignment to assignment, from 
 need to need. The smaller the grid — ^that is, 
 the more modules there are in the grid — the 
 greater the designer's freedom. The larger 
 the module of the grid, the less the freedom. 
 If the grid is very small, however — like graph 
 paper — it becomes so flexible that the 
 advantage is lost. Too much freedom is no 
 order, and the opposite is just as bad. 
 
 When the project is completely designed, 
 there is thus a sense of recurrence, of unity 
 throughout. There is a sense that the book 
 has been designed rather than piled up; it 
 has been woven rather than just put 
 together. 
 
Change for the better with 
 Alcoa Aluminum 
 
 HALCOA 
 
 Alcoa 
 
 About ten years ago we were asked by the 
 Alcoa Company to put some order into its 
 advertising. A company of that size used 
 (and is still using) five or six different 
 agencies, among them some of the best 
 agencies in the country. Although each 
 agency was doing the best it could, no Alcoa 
 image emerged from the advertising. It 
 lacked unity. The advertising had a lot of 
 diversity but no identity. One of the major 
 issues in the design profession is to provide 
 a subtle balance between identity and 
 diversity. 
 
 The first thing we did was to provide Alcoa 
 with a set of grids and standards. We 
 prepared a whole booklet for the art directors 
 of the different agencies. In the booklet they 
 could find a grid to fit each particular 
 problem. 
 
 Then we coordinated the three elements, this 
 trinity Alcoa had: the logo (Alcoa), the 
 trademark, and the slogan. The slogan 
 changes every few years; at that time it was 
 "Change for the better with Alcoa 
 Aluminum." We established a relationship 
 between these elements. 
 
 The designer Saul Bass created the Alcoa 
 logo and prepared a corporate identity 
 manual in which he developed many 
 relationships between the trademark and the 
 logo. The result of this was that the 
 advertising agency used the trademark in 
 relation to the logo in many different ways 
 and thus diluted the effectiveness of that 
 relationship. It's rather important that certain 
 elements, such as trademarks and logos 
 (although I don't believe too much in 
 trademarks or logotypes), be used in a 
 consistent and recurrent manner. Again, 
 grids will help. Grids are, as I said, nothing 
 but a tool. Establishing a relationship 
 between these elements becomes a tool. 
 
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 We developed a grid for the typical Alcoa 
 magazine advertising page. There is a 
 position for the signature, the slogan, and the 
 trademark and logotype; then there is the 
 area for the copy and the area for illustration. 
 
 We showed all kinds of possibilities in the 
 booklet. For instance, we indicated that the 
 headlines would be in the area delineated by 
 the bold line and the copy in the area marked 
 by the thin line. Alternatively, there could be 
 a very large title, the signature could be 
 moved from top to bottom, or the bottom 
 area could be used for a spread. There is 
 this freedom within the grid. 
 
 Again, if more area is needed for illustration, 
 there is a range of alternative arrangements 
 to choose among. The booklet we prepared 
 shows literally hundreds of different 
 possibilities. A choice of any one of these 
 combinations puts the design consistently 
 into a program. 
 
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 We have some examples of the ads before 
 and after. We took some ads as they were 
 done by one of Alcoa's agencies. The 
 signature was buried at the bottom of the 
 text. The text was printed in a very large size 
 type, which is unnecessary, because a 
 magazine is read at a distance of about a 
 foot, at the most a foot and a half, depending 
 on the size of the type, but it doesn't need a 
 type so large. That kind of size is comparable 
 to an emotional value. It's like turning on the 
 loudspeaker. We thought at the time that 
 there was no need for Alcoa to resort to this 
 kind of advertising technique; it could use a 
 different approach. We suggested a certain 
 size for headlines, a certain size for copy, 
 and so forth. One thing we didn't like and 
 wanted them to keep away from was faddish 
 handling of typography in their ads. Within a 
 program of this kind, which it was our task to 
 coordinate, it becomes important to provide 
 tools and means to keep the image of this 
 company above and beyond any kind of fad. 
 
 In our approach the concept of identification 
 came first. We were much more interested in 
 letting the reader know first that it was an 
 Alcoa ad and then leading the reader into the 
 text. 
 
 
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 We also showed alternative arrangements to 
 satisfy Alcoa's different needs. Sometimes 
 the designers can work out the ad using only 
 some text and the signature, or they can use 
 text, the signature, and illustration. 
 
□ ALCOA 
 
 Now let's take a look at the beginning of the 
 program, starting with an ad done by one of 
 Alcoa's agencies. With few exceptions, such 
 as the indentation in the copy, the ad could 
 have been done by us. In a sense this is 
 proof that a program set up properly will yield 
 good results no matter who is working with it. 
 
 This is an extremely important detail, 
 particularly at the level at which a new 
 program is being set up. There is no way to 
 know who will be implementing the program 
 in the future, but there should be some 
 assurance that the original good program will 
 not be wasted by temperamental designers 
 who are more interested in expressing 
 themselves than in solving the problem with 
 which they must deal. 
 
 Naturally, when we started to do this, there 
 was a tremendous reaction among the 
 agency people. The agency people had 
 never worked with grids before. All the art 
 directors had exactly the opposite kind of 
 background. One art director resigned from 
 the account because he said he didn't want 
 to work with the grids. He felt that the grids 
 were a tremendous restraint. 
 
 Other people, however, began to use them. 
 At the beginning I went to Pittsburgh about 
 once every month or two for training 
 sessions with the art directors on the use of 
 this tool. Then I didn't go there for some time, 
 and then I went once a year. The intriguing 
 thing was that after a year I walked into one 
 of the agencies, and while I was waiting I 
 looked around and discovered they were 
 using grids, the same kind of grids, for other 
 clients. They had become so accustomed to 
 working with grids, they finally understood 
 their value, and they were using them 
 naturally. Grids are a way of life, so to speak. 
 

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 1 
 
 Another ad done — again, I don't know by 
 whom — conforms exactly to the format 
 established, and I think it still has a nice 
 advertising impact. In other spreads we can 
 also see the same format. These examples 
 show the possibility of using any kind of 
 technique. 
 
 This becomes particularly interesting in light 
 of today's developments. I think one of the 
 greatest changes between the 1 960s and the 
 1970s is what I call pluralism. By that I mean, 
 in the last five or six years we have been 
 through an age of permissiveness that has 
 freed us from the previous constraint of using 
 only one kind of visual language. I remember 
 when things had to be designed in a Swiss 
 style or the designer was pretty much dead 
 or nonexistent, or an irrelevant person. 
 
 I 
 
 I think the greatest thing right now is that 
 designers can design anything the way they 
 want it, the way they feel is most appropriate, 
 and they have all the tools. Illustration is 
 terrific today, photography has achieved 
 great heights, and design can master all 
 things at the same time. 
 
 The concept of pluralism as it exists today is 
 a very healthy and very helpful attitude, but it 
 can only work if it is based on solid discipline. 
 With that kind of structural discipline in 
 graphic design, anything is possible; without 
 jt there is chaos. 
 
 In another example we see an illustration of 
 a certain kind, probably not so good as the 
 other one but still efficient. I don't know who 
 did it. It's the greatest satisfaction to see that 
 this program has been very well 
 implemented over the years. It's now in its 
 tenth year, and they're still using it, with 
 some exceptions here and there. 
 
 10 
 
That again is part of what I suggested to 
 them. I once had a meeting in Pittsburgh with 
 all the art directors from all the agencies, and 
 they asked if they always had to use the 
 grids. I told them to be careful with the grid or 
 they would find themselves trapped with it. 
 The message would be sacrificed to the grid 
 itself. 
 
 The grid is like a cage in which there is a lion 
 (the message) and a lion tamer (the 
 designer). If the tamer is good, he can 
 master the lion long enough, but eventually, 
 in order to survive, even the best tamer must 
 get out of the cage or the lion will eat him up. 
 
 If the grid is used too long — when it's not 
 appropriate, when it's not necessary, or 
 when it's done purely mechanically — then the 
 grid is going to bite; it's going to interfere with 
 communicating the message. If the designer 
 knows when it's time to go in and out of the 
 cage — when it's time to use the grid or to 
 leave it behind — ^then the grid really helps 
 and is a marvelous tool to work with. 
 
 New York Botanical Garden 
 We were asked by the New York Botanical 
 Garden to develop a corporate identity. This 
 was a particularly interesting assignment, 
 because the New York Botanical Garden is a 
 glorious institution with a great library; it's a 
 nonprofit organization, for which I have a 
 penchant. There is a great sense of 
 satisfaction in working for a nonprofit 
 organization that working for a profitmaking 
 organization never gives. 
 
 We developed a minimanual of graphics 
 standards for the Botanical Garden. In the 
 1960s, this manual would probably have 
 been more than a hundred pages, telling us 
 everything. A minimanual for a nonprofit 
 organization such as the Botanical Garden 
 gives a tremendous opportunity to get down 
 to the bones, to give the essential 
 information and skip all the superfluities. 
 
 11 
 
One of the first things we did for the 
 iilii H Botanical Garden was to standardize paper 
 sizes. Before we made our 
 recommendations, they used all kinds of 
 sizes, which resulted in tremendous waste. 
 There's no point in using different sizes just 
 because different jobs seem to call for 
 different sizes. Taking into consideration a 
 long-range program, consistency, filing, 
 retrieving the information, and saving money, 
 standardization is a phmary concern. 
 Standardization makes even more sense for 
 people involved with the government. 
 
 Sooner or later, the United States will also go 
 to a metric system. Then there will be about 
 six months or a year of total disaster. During 
 that time we will never know how many 
 centimeters equal an inch and what fraction 
 of an inch equals a centimeter. But at the 
 end, we will find out that it's all for the better, 
 and we will have conformed to the 
 international sizes, which happen to be much 
 nicer. The basic stationety size in America is 
 8y2 by 1 1 inches. The international size is 
 81/4 by 11 11/1 6, and that dimension is a 
 fabulous proportion: It's the golden 
 proportion. 
 
 One of the first things we did for the 
 Botanical Garden, of course, was to 
 standardize the paper sizes for all its printed 
 matter into the international size. So by the 
 time these sizes are adopted nationally, the 
 Botanical Garden will already be using them. 
 Since it's a scientific institution after all, the 
 directors really welcomed the idea of 
 conforming to the international standards. 
 
 The manual illustrates the different sizes, thd 
 way they work in relation to each other, and 
 some of the basic folds. 
 
 12 
 
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 The Botanical Garden's needs are very 
 variable. Sometimes the photographs used 
 are 8 X 1 and sometimes 24 x 36. 
 Sometimes the photographs are square, 
 such as Rolleiflex prints. Most of the material 
 falls into one of these categories, so there is 
 Jess cropping to do. This saves time, and it 
 saves the photographer anger, too. 
 
 One of the items of the standardization 
 program is the typeface to be used. It's much 
 easier to set standards for items like that 
 than change all the time. The choice of a 
 typeface should be based not only on 
 graphic or aesthetic considerations, but also 
 on economic considerations. 
 
 We have some examples of Times Roman in 
 different combinations of roman, italic, and 
 bold, juxtaposed against typewriter type 
 Now typewriter type— particularly for a 
 nonprofit organization— could substitute 
 beautifully as a typeface, particularly If there 
 IS an established set of standards. The text is 
 typed on the typewriter (which is just a 
 desk-top typesetting machine, FOR FREE) 
 then reduced either by Xerox or by photostat 
 to a conventional book point size. Reduced 
 to eight or nine points, as it would be for a 
 book, a magazine, or a newspaper, 
 typewritten copy doesn't look like 
 correspondence anymore; it begins to look 
 like a typeface. As a matter of fact, it's even 
 better than a typeface, because it doesn't 
 have any particular emotional value attached 
 to it. 
 
 The other great aspect of typewriter type is 
 that It stresses the structural element of 
 design. We didn't really wake up one 
 morning to the realization that typewriter type 
 had a wonderful structure. After a few years 
 of using the typewriter as an economical 
 means of typesetting, we came to perceive 
 that typographic design is basically structural 
 and not emotional. The manual itself, by the 
 way, uses typewriter type for the text. 
 
 13 
 
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 The Botanical Garden's stationery is also 
 organized with a grid, a three-column grid. 
 The first column has the initials, the second 
 and third have the signature of the New York 
 Botanical Garden. The address and 
 message appear from the fold down, with the 
 symbol at the bottom of the second column. 
 
 This is a very clear approach. By shifting the 
 text to the two right-hand columns, a sense 
 of order and also a sense of identification are 
 created that are stronger than those created 
 by the usual inch-and-a-half or two-inch 
 margin. 
 
 The Botanical Garden, like all institutions, 
 has all kinds of forms. We designed a grid for 
 all the forms based on typewriter spacing. 
 There is vertical spacing and a four-pica 
 horizontal modulation. This gives a vertical 
 reference that relates to the basic 
 three-column structure of the grid. 
 
 We also established certain criteria for thick 
 and thin lines to separate the text within a 
 form. Everything else is typewritten, reduced, 
 and placed in position, so it can readily be 
 filled in either by hand or by typewriter. 
 
 The directory is also done on a typewriter so 
 that it can be changed without crying over 
 the cost of resetting all the type. The 
 typewriter is used for all the message parts 
 Type is used, however, for identification 
 elements that relate to the overall institutiona 
 image. 
 
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 The Botanical Garden awards diplomas for i 
 courses it offers. The design of the diploma • 
 is all celebration. 
 
 We also designed a stationery variation for 
 other activities within the Botanical Garden 
 that can have their own identification. 
 
 14 
 
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 We decided to use the three-column grid for 
 the newsletter and the magazine, also. We 
 can see the different layout possibilities in 
 these applications. Everything is much more 
 disciplined. There is a space at the top for 
 running titles, for headlines, and for 
 everything else. The grid helps to position 
 things. If these things had to be laid out 
 without a grid, it would be really difficult to 
 know where to position them. This kind of 
 tool provides a frame of reference, a 
 reference point. 
 
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 We did some booklets for the Botanical 
 Garden that also follow the standards — all 
 typewriter inside, with press type for the 
 outside. This is another project that can be 
 produced inexpensively. 
 
 We designed a grid for posters, allocating 
 space for illustrations, space for text, and 
 space for identification. We provided an 
 alternative format to give flexibility. We 
 showed one poster in the manual as an 
 application of the way this goes together. 
 
 15 
 
And, finally, we worked on signage. We used 
 the same design concept, more or less, for 
 identification of the plants throughout the 
 garden and for signage throughout the 
 offices and public areas of the museum. 
 
 16 
 
Fort Worth Art Museum 
 Another project was the graphics for the Fort 
 Worth Art Museum. Every year the museum 
 chooses a different designer for its graphics 
 so that it can build up a collection of different 
 approaches. In 1976, Vignelli Associates was 
 chosen to do the graphics. 
 
 First we selected a typeface, in this case 
 Century, which I happen to like very much. 
 Century is a rather ambiguous typeface. It's 
 a classic type, but at the same time it's not. It 
 was designed in 1894 for Century magazine, 
 so it's eighty-four years old, but it's still good. 
 The only problem with this type is that it has 
 been made by many different foundries and 
 is very inconsistent in its cut, so it is 
 particularly difficult to find the right one. 
 While Century Expanded, the type we chose, 
 is beautiful. Century Schoolbook seems to 
 lack completely the flare and the grace of 
 Century Expanded. Century Schoolbook is 
 bold and spiritless. Century Expanded has 
 elegance. 
 
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 For all the Fort Worth Art Museum 
 publications, including the monthly calendar 
 and all the stationery, we established a 
 format using a big black band. This happens 
 to be a tool I use very often. Then on the 
 calendar there are other black bands with the 
 days in reverse, and there is an area for 
 information. 
 
 Again, this is done with the discipline of a 
 grid. There is space for ten lines — one line 
 for the title, a one-line space, then another 
 eight lines for text. 
 
 The back of the calendar has one event, and 
 that in itself provides a kind of layout. Every 
 month we change the color of the calendar. 
 The design change is provided by the shifting 
 of the events themselves. Again, identity is 
 established by the format, and diversity is 
 established by the events themselves. 
 
 17 
 

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 So we can see again how nicely everything 
 works out when a grid has been set up in ' 
 relation to the fold. We keep designing and | 
 forgetting how things should be folded. Whei 
 a design sticks to the grid, and the fold is 
 already incorporated in the grid, by the time 
 the thing is folded it begins to be music; 
 everything goes together beautifully. 
 
 These are small details. We are talking shop 
 not great philosophy. But these little details j 
 do portray a philosophy, an attitude toward i 
 communication, and an attitude toward ^ 
 design and its integrity. 
 
 We also designed some posters for the 
 museum's major events. Again, the big blac 
 band, the type and four-column basic 
 structure, and the illustration playing free. It 
 doesn't have to fit the grid, because 
 otherwise it would be too monotonous. The 
 grid can't be seen, but it's there. That's the 
 beauty of the grid. When it can be seen, it's 
 terrible. 
 
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 One of the posters was about a permanent 
 collection of paintings. We didn't want to 
 show all the paintings, but we did use all the 
 names of the artists, and we used different 
 colors for the names to make a painting out 
 of the poster. We did a lot of these posters 
 with the grid. Where I would have put this 
 type without the grid, I really don't know. 
 
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 19 
 
Intrfxiuction 
 
 Another example of inexpensive graphics, as 
 I like to call them, is a Fort Worth Art 
 Museum publication that is all done on the 
 typewriter. It is typewhter type reduced, as 
 we discussed earlier. This publication could 
 be a real magazine, judged on its 
 appearance. It's printed on newsprint and in 
 the same fashion as a newspaper, so it has a 
 margin, because we cannot have bleeds. 
 The grid is three columns across and four 
 modules in height. With the grid to help in 
 filling in the spaces, everything can be 
 related — rather than putting some things 
 another quarter of an inch higher or 
 lower — and then the whole thing begins to 
 work beautifully. 
 
 The typewriter is just as good as anything 
 else for setting type. From a distance 
 typewriter type looks like any typeface. If that 
 appearance is satisfactory, right away $1 ,000 
 is saved by not setting type. 
 
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 20 
 
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 21 
 
SAINT PETERS CHURCH 
 
 Other Inexpensive Projects 
 Another inexpensive project we did was the 
 graphics for St. Peter's Church in New York 
 (for which we are also doing the interiors). 
 We chose kraft paper in a size that fits a 
 multilith. In this way we demonstrate how an 
 institution with limited finances can approach 
 an identification program using the most 
 inexpensive production techniques, such as 
 multilith. 
 
 Multilith accepts paper sizes up to &V2 by 17 
 inches. We took that size as a starting point 
 and began to build the whole system of 
 paper sizes and formats for different 
 purposes, just as we did in the Botanical 
 Garden manual. The only difference was tha' 
 instead of doing it in the abstract, in terms of 
 international standards as we did before, in 
 this case we did it in terms of feasibility. So 
 we developed a set of standards appropriate 
 to their use and to the equipment available. 
 There's no real reason why they should use 
 much more expensive ways of printing when 
 they can use multilith or even duplicator. I 
 don't think a designer should feel restrained 
 by designing projects to be reproduced by a 
 duplicator. It's not what is done but how it is 
 done that is really the soul of the design 
 profession. 
 
 Another example of an inexpensive design is 
 the church newspaper. Again, it is all done 
 on the typewriter, either blown up or reduced 
 and it looks like the real thing. It doesn't look 
 like a cheap, homemade thing; it looks like a 
 professional newspaper. It could be the New 
 York Times in a sense. 
 
 22 
 
The Architectural League of NewY)rk 
 
 We also designed some graphics for the 
 Architectural League in New York. Once 
 again we used kraft paper. The stationery 
 has three folds and no horizontal grid. We 
 used only the folds working as a grid. The 
 stationery can also be used in the other 
 direction, depending on the kind of 
 announcement required. 
 
 All our work for the Architectural League 
 relied on kraft paper, the typewriter, and the 
 logo in Garamond as identification. For 
 diversity we could change color and design 
 any time. 
 
 i 
 
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 23 
 
The Architectural League of New V)rk 
 
 The Architectural League of New\brk 
 
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 24 
 
We also designed some invitations for a 
 dinner for the designers Charles and Ray 
 Eames. The invitations were printed on 
 different colors of tissue paper and were in 
 all the glasses, so that the whole thing was 
 colorful on all the tables, reflecting the 
 Barnes's joyful approach to design. 
 
 rHEAHCHITBCTURALLEAGUiOFNEWMQRK BE^UXAKTSTOUR 
 
 Now let's look at a poster for the Beaux Arts 
 tour of buildings in New York. It's a 
 marvelous photograph by the architectural 
 photographer Cervin Robinson of the 
 Customs House in New York. On the back of 
 it, again in typewriter type, there are 
 descriptions of every building and tour, street 
 by street, in that particular area. 
 
 25 
 
THE ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW VDRK BEAUX ARTS TOUR 
 
 yis==i-=3=:-~=:- 
 
 
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 I said before that the identity of the League 
 was maintained by the consistent use of 
 Garamond and typewriter type. But I also 
 said before that the lion tamer must not stay 
 in the cage too long, or the lion will bite. 
 When we had to do an Architectural League 
 poster dedicated to Art Deco, we changed 
 the type. We used Futura type, which is 
 much more appropriate in that particular 
 case. This is exactly the kind of freedom we 
 always have. In one case we changed the 
 typeface, but in the next case we went back 
 to the regular setup. Doing that gains 
 effectiveness and recognition at the same 
 time. 
 
 26 
 
MOORE COLLEGE OF ART 
 
 The Moore College of Art in Philadelphia 
 asked Vignelli Associates to create a design 
 identity program. We told them to use 
 typewriter type, because they had limited 
 funds, but to print everything they did in 
 red — exclusively in red. So their stationery 
 has a typewriter logo that is printed, and then 
 the text is typewritten in color using a red 
 ribbon. Everything begins to look unified; it 
 doesn't look poor anymore. 
 
 We designed the invitation cards for their 
 exhibitions. All one color, all red, and that's it. 
 
 We have some sketches of the presentation 
 we made to them. All the college's posters 
 were different sizes, which is a great waste 
 of money. That is why I insist on 
 standardizing format and sizes. So we 
 suggested using one size. That size 
 becomes an announcement. The recurrence 
 of the size becomes an identification 
 element. 
 
 27 
 
MOORE COLLEGE OF ART 
 
 MOORE COT,T,F,GE OF ART 
 
 
 
 
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 In another two-column treatment the 
 expression is very different. One is very 
 quiet, very informative; the other is another 
 kind of event, a one-person show. 
 
 28 
 
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 in some oiner ireaimerub we snuweu nuw 
 the typewriter could also be enlarged 
 effectively. 
 
 Although we used this program for all the 
 Moore College publications, the grid for the 
 catalogs was a slightly different proposition. 
 Catalogs of paintings of course include 
 illustrations of all sizes. A painting cannot be 
 cropped just to fit the grid, but there must be 
 a starting point. In one case, for instance, we 
 centered all the paintings. That means that 
 we used these two axes of symmetry for the 
 whole thing, but the copy starts on the 
 position indicated by the grid. Any painting 
 could be shifted wherever necessary, but the 
 type would return to the same position. 
 
 29 
 
We worked out still another grid for the 
 Moore College alumni journal. 
 
 30 
 
Knoll 
 
 For the last ten years Vignelli Associates has 
 designed all the graphics for Knoll 
 International. In the 1960s we used a very 
 slick image. All Helvetica throughout, very 
 businesslike. We wanted to represent the 
 advance management, in a sense, the 
 modern top management; we wanted to 
 illuminate management, just as a large 
 corporate headquarters is set off when it 
 uses good contemporary architecture. 
 
 So the image of Knoll during the 1960s was 
 very corporate. Things have changed a lot in 
 our society since the 1960s, so now, in the 
 1 970s, we thought we should change the 
 accent in our communication. We developed 
 the idea of not doing slick brochures 
 anymore but instead doing something like a 
 tabloid. This reflects the influence from the 
 underground press filtering up to the 
 corporate level. 
 
 31 
 
—I 1 
 
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 We decided to use a tabloid, which is like a 
 small newspaper printed on newsprint, set 
 with the typewriter, and using photolettering 
 for the headlines. We had the same grid for 
 all the uses in this tabloid. 
 
 For the basic structure of the cover we have 
 a black band at the top, holding everything, 
 with photolettering and the Knoll logo. 
 
 We did the layout on a grid of two-column 
 width, the text all typewritten and reduced. 
 Again I stress the fact that the cost of 
 production using the typewriter instead of 
 typesetting is very little. The cost of a 
 newspaper like this, of a tabloid like this, is 
 something like fifteen or twenty cents as 
 opposed to a dollar for a typeset brochure. 
 So it is easy to see that many more people 
 can be reached. Of course, on the other side 
 the brochure, being slick and expensive, will 
 probably be kept, while the newspaper has 
 the tendency to be thrown away. So there 
 are pluses and minuses on that. 
 
 32 
 
Z 3 
 
 The funny thing, however, is that, since this 
 goes to the architectural community, when 
 the people receiving it understood that the 
 paper was a recurring thing, they began 
 keeping it, they put on the folder so they 
 could keep the information and retrieve it. 
 
 Another tabloid on furniture designed by the 
 designer Otto Zapf used four colors on the 
 front and back, so we also used color for the 
 type. The use of color in the typography 
 helps to take away from the boredom. 
 
 A BKStsrai A cowAirr 
 
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 33 
 
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 34 
 
When we designed for the residential area of 
 Knoll, we went away from Helvetica and 
 used instead a Bodoni, which I redesigned 
 (with apologies to my countrymen). I felt that 
 the Bodoni needed revision, because our 
 taste for type has completely changed. The 
 advent of Helvetica completely changed our 
 graphic perceptions and our taste for type. In 
 Helvetica the height of the capital letters is 
 much shorter in relation to the height of the 
 lower-case letters than in any other classic 
 typeface, and the possibility of making the 
 type tighter has also by now become a part 
 of our perception. So we took Bodoni Bold 
 and used a smaller upper case with a larger 
 lower case — for instance, a 60-point upper 
 case and a 72-point lower case. I also made 
 other height adjustments to reduce the height 
 of the type. 
 
 We did another tabloid for a line of furniture 
 designed by an Italian designer, Gae Aulenti. 
 It seemed to me a good idea to go to 
 Vicenza, near Venice in Italy, to photograph 
 this line in a villa designed by the sixteenth 
 century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. I 
 remembered that the villa had frescoes that 
 extended down to the floor. What I wanted to 
 do was to fill these pictures and create an 
 impression so unusual that it would be 
 retained as the image. When we think of the 
 Barcelona chair, we always think of Mies van 
 der Rohe's beautiful Barcelona pavilion; that 
 is the image that has stuck in our minds. 
 
 35 
 
What I wanted to do in this case was to put 
 this line of furniture in a surrounding of 
 classicism, elegance, and value that would 
 be associated with the furniture. I didn't want 
 to have any people in the picture; at the 
 same time I did want people in the picture. 
 
 We had a lot of fun there. We went to the 
 baker and invited him to the villa. I showed 
 him a particular bread that was in the fresco 
 and asked if he could make the same kind 
 again. So it was kind of fun. 
 
 We arranged the catalog to show details of 
 the furniture on one side and then the exact 
 descriptions of the things on the other side, 
 so all the necessary information is available. 
 An emotional level on one side and the 
 objective value level on the other side. 
 
 36 
 
0.; In government agencies there is a lot of 
 copy change. I'd like to know how much 
 control you demand over the size of the 
 copy once you start into the project. 
 A.: Some time ago we designed a 
 newspaper, one of the very few that I know 
 had been designed with grids. The 
 newspaper had a certain number of modules. 
 Every module contained so many words per 
 line and so many words per module. Let's 
 say for the sake of simplicity that each 
 module was 1 00 words. The people on the 
 editorial staff automatically knew that they 
 had to write in modules of 100. So the editor 
 would tell a reporter to write 300 words, or 
 500 words, or 1 ,800 words in an article. 
 
 What that means in terms of layout is that if 
 there are, let's say, 1 ,200 words, then there 
 are 12 modules. With twelve modules, the 
 text can be organized into two columns of six 
 modules each, or four columns of three 
 modules each, or three columns of four 
 modules each. 
 
 So this system provides great freedom in 
 setting up a page layout within the time 
 framework typical of newspapers. Obviously, 
 discipline that is imposed on the designer 
 must be imposed on the editors. If a grid 
 system is set up, and it requires so many 
 words per module, the copywriter must stick 
 to it. The other thing is, if there is a good 
 relationship between the people putting the 
 publication together and the people writing, 
 the coordinator can ask the writer to cut two 
 or three lines here and there, and the writer 
 will agree. There should be this kind of 
 relationship. 
 
 Use of grids, of course, trains the mind to 
 think in terms of modules, which are the 
 greatest thing in terms of controlling space. 
 Two thousand years ago the Roman 
 architect Marcus Vitruvius used nothing but 
 modules; Palladio used nothing but modules; 
 the French architect Le Corbusier used 
 nothing but modules, not to mention Mies 
 van der Rohe, who did nothing but work with 
 modules. It is in the great tradition of 
 controlling space to work with modules. It is 
 in the great tradition of mess not to do it. 
 
 37 
 
0.; Why don't you tell us how you 
 redesigned the Senate papers? 
 A.: The design of the book as it was before 
 was very traditional, nothing changed since it 
 was originally designed. I was in Paris 
 recently and I was looking at some 
 documents, some books published in 1847. 
 They were exactly like the Senate 
 papers — slightly better, as a matter of 
 fact — but I was really shocked when I saw 
 that these books had the date 1 847. That's 
 really exactly what the Senate papers looked 
 like. The design didn't look bad just because 
 it was old — that, if anything, would have beer 
 good. It looked bad because it had been 
 completely taken apart over time by a series 
 of unrelated interventions, none of which 
 were guided by an overall structure. 
 
 One bad characteristic was the habit of 
 indentations ad infinitum. Of course they ate 
 up the whole column. As working tools, these 
 papers had no space for writing notes. And 
 of course anyone working with these 
 documents must be able to make notes on 
 them. After all, they aren't novels that one 
 sits down and reads from the beginning to 
 the end. These are legal matters. 
 
 Our first concern was to provide a structure, 
 and we did a grid that related to the point 
 size of the type. We thought the type used on 
 this publication was good enough; it gave a 
 certain sense that it was a government 
 paper. I cannot see a publication like this 
 done either in Garamond, which would be 
 too literary, or in Helvetica, which would be 
 too technical. Furthermore, the existing type 
 had a nice continuity with the past. So I 
 thought we could keep the type and still 
 achieve a design that is contemporary 
 because it is structured. 
 
 For the cover design we simply projected 
 from the existing structure. On the inside, wel 
 provided the extra space that was needed for 
 making marginal notes without changing the 
 number of words on the page. The new 
 format, with wide inside margins, also made 
 it easier to read, because the binding 
 generally is done with staples, so the book 
 really cannot be opened all the way, and the 
 text tends to disappear into the gutter. 
 
 38 
 
I and Election 
 
 IMPORTA^fT DATES 
 
 Nov«inb«r2. 1976-Gener»l Electic 
 December 13, 1976-Dale of meeli 
 January 6, 1977 -Counting of elect 
 
 I. Presidential Prefere 
 
 Sir-aH"'"- 
 
 \ 
 
 Fib. 24 Dec. 26 New Hampihire 
 
 1I„.2 J.„.2 M„.„hu.e«.. 
 
 M«.! Feb. 10 Vermont. 
 
 
 Mt. 16 De.. 29 im„o,.. 
 
 M„.23 Feb. 3 North C.rol.n^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M.,4 M^.6 Dl..r,ct of Columbia. 
 
 M.,4 Feb 10 Georgia 
 
 l.y« M.r,.6 Indian.. 
 
 
 ! ay 11 Mar. 12 Nebraak.. 
 
 1 ay 11 Feb 7 We.t Virptiia 
 
 M.;.8 M.r26 Maryland 
 
 Ma, 18 Mar 19 Michigan 
 
 
 May 26 Apr .0 KentuoUy 
 
 May 26 Apr 25 Nevada 
 
 
 May 26 Apr 6 Arkan.a, 
 
 
 
 Ju„.l Apr 16 Sooth Dakota. 
 
 
 
 
 
 i .^v-^XTS?z,:r'i!"JU^ :iz 'J:""",°Jr'!^^u."j'"':',TSX- 
 
 
 Another thing we did was to apply much 
 more restraint in terms of typography. We 
 suggested that they use certain type sizes for 
 different purposes rather than using all kinds 
 of different divisions of upper case, lower and 
 upper case, upper case bold, upper case 
 italic, and so on and so forth. All that doesn't 
 really help, and it's bad visually. 
 
 Of course, we also made the same 
 improvement in all the tables. It's amazing 
 how well this was implemented by the 
 Government Printing Office; we had really 
 great assistance from that side. 
 
 We thought that the existing binding was 
 fine, providing they used good colors. In the 
 past they used baby blue, baby pink, 
 government green, and so on and so forth. 
 Really, they got the most depressing colors 
 in the scheme. We told them they should use 
 colors with a little more character, like a good 
 brown, or gray, or red. The red they used is 
 not a great red, but it's what they have within 
 their range. They cannot use Champion 
 papers, because they can't afford to buy 
 them. Everything is on a competitive basis, 
 with the lowest price taking the bid, and at 
 the lowest price there never is a great range 
 of colors. Nevertheless, with certain criteria 
 ruling the decision, some good colors can be 
 found. 
 
 0..' What kind of suggestions would you 
 make to editors or customers who want to 
 put in filler articles or something wherever 
 there is empty space? 
 A.: It's very difficult to control that. Of 
 course, my theory is that if there is nothing to 
 say, nothing should be said. But there are 
 people who have horror vacui — that means a 
 fear of empty spaces — and they have to fill 
 up every space or they can't sleep. Then 
 there are people like me, who are very 
 serene with nothingness. I adore my houses 
 empty, but my neighbors keep asking when 
 the furniture is going to come. 
 
 39 
 
This publication is based on a presentation 
 made at the Second Studio Seminar for 
 Federal Graphic Designers held at the Illinois 
 Institute of Technology, November 10, 1976. 
 
 Studio seminars are sponsored by the 
 National Endowment for the Arts as a part of 
 the Federal Design Improvement Program. 
 The seminars give federal designers the 
 opportunity to keep abreast of the latest 
 techniques and methods in design and 
 communication, to solve problems, and to 
 exchange ideas. Participants include 
 designers and their supervisors, 
 photographers, illustrators, typographers, 
 editors, and printing officers. 
 
For Sale by the Superintendent of Docunnents, 
 U.S. Government Printing Office, 
 Washington, D.C. 20402 
 
 Stock No. 036-000-00038-4 
 
 >mber 1978