Massimo Vignelli and his partner in life and in design, Lella Vignelli, are both Italians who have pursued much of their careers in the United States, while maintaining strong ties to Europe. Massimo Vignelli studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano from 1950 to 1953 and later trained at the Universita di Architetttura, Venice. His first professional position was as a designer of glassware for Venini, and from 1958 to 1960 he taught design at the Institute of Design, Chicago, while his wife, Lella Vignelli worked for architects, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
In 1960, the couple returned to Milan and founded the Lella and Massimo Vignelli Office for Design and Architecture. Four years later, Massimo began creating graphics for the Container Corporation of America, and designed its new logo. In 1965, with Bob Noorda and Jay Doblin he founded Unimark International, a design consultancy originally based in Milan. The Vignellis, however, soon moved to America and in 1966 Unimark established a New York office, specializing in corporate identity. Read more >
