Massimo Vignelli is a very disagreeable designer

I can never agree with a person who disagrees with market research. One of these people is Massimo Vignelli. I also disagree with the idea that red is the only useful color. I go through phases with color, but only when I am too lazy to take risks.

I do agree that people do not know what they need. Ask Henry Ford. However, they do have interesting ways of telling you what the problem is. Much more interesting than just observing the situation from your own, limited perspective.

How could I design a chair for a paraplegic. I am not a paraplegic, and I do not think, move, act or live like one. Trying to do so and investing good money on wrong assumptions would be a disastrous thing to do.

I do believe that some people hide behind research and fail to make that creative leap beyond the figures and data that come out of the process. But that is a separate issue.

I also enjoy Vignelli's take on the design versus art issue. According to him, “Artists are lucky; they can work by themselves. They don't need a problem.” Although, for me, working without a problem is much more daunting than working to resolve a problem.

Resolve a problem, this is what Vignelli says he does best. My question is, how can you solve a problem if you don’t fully understand it. Sounds like fine art, not design. Yes, as he says, you can get at the essence of the problem, but how do you know this is the right problem?

What about the finer details? The Manhattan subway map is a great example. Yes, it is simple. Yes it is lovely. But what does it tell us about the stops? What is left when you arrive at your stop? Where are the landmarks, the people, the references? Where is the humanness?


Take, for example, this plate

No, the blossoms do not add to the functionality of the piece. No, they are not in red. However, this unexpected bit of charm adds interest and makes the piece much more approachable than the typical, perfectly white and perfectly bland dish ware.

Sometimes I think it is ok to be “vulgar” and sometimes it is ok to use an extensive color palette. I also think that it does not diminish your credibility to admit that you do not know everything, and that sometimes the people who work in the factory have just as much to say as the existentialist, highly-schooled designer. Asking questions is humbling, and it is necessary.