Book List of the Week: Massimo Vignelli
“The list is almost ridiculous—the more I think, the more books come to mind. Books that have been useful but not fundamental, books that have somehow shaped my mind, enriched my experience, affected my designs.”
By Steve Kroeter June 2, 2014
Much has already been written about the many design contributions and lasting influence as well as the kindness and generosity of Massimo Vignelli, who passed away last week. Both Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand, among others, have movingly detailed the role Massimo played early in their graphic design careers.
Massimo also kindly took a chance on Designers & Books when it was only an idea. When we first decided to launch the site, he was one of the first designers we approached—we didn’t know him personally—for a list of the books that had inspired him. And he was among the first to agree to participate, something he did with great care and enthusiasm.
We sent a query about when we might expect to receive his book list. His assistant, Daisy, replied with this note:
Massimo is working on it and putting considerable thought to the project. It is very difficult for him to narrow it down... he has quite an extensive library with a wide range of topics that have influenced his career. Like everything he does, he is approaching the task with great attention to detail. I will let you know his progress, unless he contacts you directly. Thank you.
Later we heard from Massimo directly:
Mr. Kroeter,
I find your request extremely difficult for me. Out of thousand of books which have enriched my life and knowledge, I cannot single few ones without omitting so many others who have shaped my mind in the course of my life.
Naturally architecture and design books have been the major influences, but art history, philosophy, literature, ethnology, music, particularly on the theoretic and critical side of every discipline, have been my favorite reading.
It will take an enormous amount of time to list every book that has left a mark on my formation. I will just list some of the names that comes to my mind:
G.C. Argan, S. Giedion, L. Mumford, Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, W. Gropius, G. Kepes, Moholy Nagy, Zevi, M. Pagano, E. Persico, E. Rogers, P. Rand, Plato, G. Lukacs, M. Mila, J.G. Frazer, H. Balzac, Maupassant, L. Tolstoi, F. Dostoevsky, Checov, T. Mann, W. Goethe, A. Moravia, C. Pavese, I. Calvino, U. Eco, V. Nabokov,T.Farrel, T.Dreiser, E.Hemingway, and so many others including Mozart, Beethoven and Bach!
The list is almost ridiculous, the more I think the more books come to mind, books that have been useful but not fundamental, books that have somehow shaped my mind, enriched my experience, affected my designs.
I am curious to see how my friends on your list, have answered the question.
Please let me know if you have any suggestion for me.
Best regards,
Massimo Vignelli
The next day we received his book list, with this note:
Dear Mr. Kroeter,
I am sending you a list of books, but really I feel guilty to leave out all those who have really enriched my life.
Anyhow here is a list. Let me know.
All the best,
Massimo Vignelli
The list—the first we published, in February 2011—contains 32 books.
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Understanding Understanding: New from Richard Saul Wurman
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by Richard Saul Wurman
Publisher: Richard Saul Wurman and Jack Dangermond
Published July 30, 2017
From the author of Information Architecture, who says about his newest book: “This is a book for people to dip into, as they would walk in and out of the room of a dinner party and embrace their interests. . . Before the rules on how to organize information, before you learn grammar, before you work hard at expanding your vocabulary and go through the exercises of parallel meanings of things as using a Thesaurus and as one writes papers in class, before any learning one must understand.”
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Publisher: Lars Müller Publishers
Published in US: May 22, 2017
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Editors: Tony Brook & Adrian Shaughnessy
Design: Spin
Publisher: Unit Editions
Published April 2017
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by Steven Heller and Gail Anderson
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published May 30, 2017
Reveals how type can become both content and illustration, as letters take the form of people, animals, cars, or planes. With numerous illustrations by F. T. Marinetti, Bruno Munari, and Francis Picabia, among others, as well as by contemporary designers such as Richard Eckersley, John Hendrix, Maira Kalman, and Corita Kent.
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by Steven Heller and Greg D’Onofrio
Publisher: Abrams
Published September 19, 2017
Featuring more than 60 designers whose magazine, book, and record covers; advertisements and package designs; posters; and other projects created the visual aesthetics of postwar modernity in America. Some were émigrés from Europe; others were homegrown; all were intoxicated by elemental typography, primary colors, photography, and geometric or biomorphic forms. Some are well-known, others are honored in this volume for the first time, and together they comprised a movement that changed our design world.
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