Massimo Vignelli

Massimo Vignelli
Born in Milan, Italy in 1931
"If you can design one thing, you can design anything"

An architect junkie as a kid studied at Politecnico di Milan and Universitia di Achitettura, Venice. Upon visiting stateside on a fellowship '57-60 and finally moved to New York in 1966 to work for Unimark International, which quickly became one of the largest design firms in the world. Leaving in 1971, Massimo and his wife Lella founded Vingelli Associates. 

Massimo Vignelli has worked in a wide variety of areas, including interior design, environmental design, package design, graphic design, furniture design, and product design. His clients at Vignelli Associates have included high-profile companies such as IBM, Knoll,Bloomingdale's and American Airlines.
In 2007, VIngnelli published a book Vingnelli: From A to Z, which contains a series of essays describing the principles and concepts behind "all good design"

NYC subway map circa 1972