Knoll
Artist: Massimo Vignelli
Massimo studied architecture before founding the Vignelli Office of Design and Architecture in 1960 with his wife, Lella. The pair established Vignelli Associates in 1971, a vehicle for focusing on projects that incorporated their industrial, furniture and graphic design talents.
In 1967, Bobby Cadwallader retained Massimo Vignelli to create a new graphics program for Knoll. The resulting designs, based largely on a grid, provided the foundation for all basic communication needs, including stationery, business cards, stickers, tags, boxes, brochures and four-color ads for trade magazines and publications like The New Yorker, Vogue and Fortune.
Massimo Vignelli once described the Knoll assignment as “the most exciting, rewarding” of his professional career. Perhaps the greatest measure of the program’s success is the extent to which it continues to inform the company’s public identity to this day.
As recognizable and successful as the work of his predecessor, Herbert Matter, Vignelli’s advertisements, pricelists and branding efforts gave Knoll an international graphic identity that became the industry standard.
Additionally, Vignelli Associates contributed two furniture designs to the Knoll portfolio: the Handkerchief chair (designed together with David Law) and the Paperclip table.
Source: https://www.knoll.com/knollnewsdetail/remembering-massimo-vignelli
In 1967 Massimo and Lella Vignelli were hired create a new graphics program for Knoll. The resulting designs, based largely on a grid, provided the foundation for all basic communication needs, including stationery, business cards, stickers, tags, boxes, brochures and four-colour ads for trade magazines and publications like The New Yorker, Vogue and Fortune.
The identity initially paired Knoll International in Helvetica alongside Herbert Matter’s iconic 1947 Knoll ‘K’ logo. Seen above in a 1972 invitation in the style of a swing tag. And below in a poster, a collection of brochures from 1966 onwards from MoMA’s design collection, a price list and letterhead. The monumental 81.3 x 120.7 cm poster (1967), uses transparent and overlapping letters and underscores Knoll’s identity through typography. The reverse displays drawings of Knoll’s furniture line, which gained visibility when the poster was folded and sent as a mailing piece.
Source: https://dedece.com/knoll-by-vignelli/
