81. DESIGN IS ONE: LEILA AND MASSIMO VIGNELLI

this married couple came from italy to the united states in '57, she an architect and he a designer.  they became one of the power couples for design, ranging from graphics to the ny subway system guide to furniture and jewelry, household goods, churches, offices and corporate logos.  massimo prides himself on bringing "helvetica" to the u.s.  they like things simple and functional.  i've never given a lot of thought to corporate logos, for example, but this team designed the "ford" logo and the "american airlines" logo.  watching a film like this brings that into focus......everything is designed by someone and the best designed products don't really change; there's just no need.  i've looked at a lot of national park brochures and now i know that massimo used his grid system to design the layout for those.  back in the day when i kept the arch information desk stocked with brochures from the parks, they were very different.  now, the are graphically more interesting thanks to massimo.  the film shows him celebrating his 80th birthday in 2012.  he states his hope is that he lives on forever.  that seems likely given the proven longevity of so many of his creations.