“The grid is an integral part of book design,” says the incomparable Massimo Vignelli. “It’s not something that you see. It’s just like underwear: you wear it, but it’s not to be exposed. The grid is the underwear of the book.”
Vignelli’s approach to book design is the subject of a new video created by Pentagram’s Michael Bierut and Aron Fay for “What Will You Make Today?” campaign from Mohawk. In the video, Vignelli discusses his use of the grid as the basis for the layout of a book’s pages, using one of his classic book designs for the architect Richard Meier as an example. Working with an audio interview edited by Hilary Frank, Bierut and Fay animated Vignelli’s sketches for the clip, taking them from skeletal grid to finished publication.
Bierut knew Vignelli’s painstaking step-by-step process well. “Because I worked with Massimo for ten years before joining Pentagram, I was very familiar with his unique way of designing books. He sits with all the ingredients—text and images—and draws each page with a pencil, including every photograph, using a grid as a layout guide,” he says.
The video is accompanied by a small limited edition journal that reproduces Vignelli’s grid from the film. The journal is available from Mohawk’s website, while supplies last.
Continue reading “New Work: ‘Massimo Vignelli Makes Books’”
What’s in 40 years? For Pentagram’s recent 40th anniversary party in New York, partner Emily Oberman and her team assembled a montage of classic movie moments from the past four decades of Academy Award winners for Best Picture. The designers looked at hundreds of sequences from all 40 films, from “The Godfather” to “The Artist,” and edited together 40 cheers, 40 kisses, 40 dance moves, 40 ka-booms, and more. The clips were projected during our party, where they helped inspire many new moments, all of them celebratory. Here’s to another 40!
Project Team: Emily Oberman, partner-in-charge and lead designer; Jonathan Correira, designer; Laura Tomaselli, editor; Graham Holly, animator; Lucea Spinelli, project coordinator.
For the last decade, Pentagram’s William Russell has worked with Alexander McQueen on their stores and interiors around the world. In this video, Russell tells his story working with Lee and the brand, sharing his favourite moments, the challenges and what he learned along the way.
A Lot on Your Plate is the newest piece of sustainable inspiration from Do The Green Thing, an environmental charity co-founded by Pentagram’s Naresh Ramchandani.
It’s designed to highlight the impact the meat industry has on the environment, and encourage people to say no to sausages and go easy on the meat.
Continue reading “New Work: A Lot on Your Plate”
An all-star line-up of designers and thinkers gathered on Tuesday for the Global Design Forum, one of the highlights of the 2012 London Design Festival.
Continue reading “New Work: Global Design Forum”
“Thinking and Making” is a new film made for Rogers, Stirk Harbour and Partners by Pentagram’s Marina Willer. Willer created the film to celebrate the work of Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour, two of the leading partners at RSHP alongside Richard Rogers. Willer has previously made two short films made for the firm, “Exposed” and “Inside Out”.
The new film is currently being used as part of the RSHP’s traveling exhibition, “From House to City.” The exhibition premiered in Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 2007 and has since travelled to London, Barcelona, Madrid, Taipei, Singapore, and most recently Hong Kong, attracting more than half a million visitors to date.
Continue reading “New Work: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners”
