Reading through The Vignelli Canon by Massimo Vignelli felt a bit like sitting quietly with someone who’s spent decades thinking about design, someone who doesn’t need to raise their voice to be heard as they’ve already laid out their experiences for any willing listener. Vignelli talks about design like it has its own world, a language. He says, “It is imperative to develop your own vocabulary of your own language — a language that attempts to be as objective as possible, knowing very well that even objectivity is subjective” (Massimo Vignelli, p. 96). I think that line stuck with me because it’s a reminder that while design can feel structured, it’s still deeply personal. Everyone’s “canon” will end up different.
One thing I noticed throughout the book was how much he cares about the topic of appropriateness. Whether he’s talking about grids and typefaces or colors and materials, he always asks, ‘Is this appropriate for what it’s trying to say?’ He believes that design should have an economy to it but not in a cheap way. More like a sense of restraint and clarity. He wrote, “Design means to be in control of every detail and scale is one of the most relevant ones” (Vignelli, p. 74). I guess that’s the opposite of what we often see online today as with random fonts, distorted text, loud colors, and clutter. Or everything just following the same uncreative patterns. It feels like there’s a sense of panic in some modern design like it’s trying too hard to grab attention.
What stood out to me was his dislike of using typefaces as decoration. He calls it “intellectual vulgarity” (Vignelli, p. 72). At first, that sounded harsh, but reading his explanations made it clearer. He’s not trying to kill creativity. Rather, he’s trying to make sure there’s meaning behind choices. He writes, “In other words, it is not the type but what you do with it that counts. The accent was on structure rather than type” (Vignelli, p. 54). I think that’s something I want to remember in my own work. Sometimes I get caught up in finding the coolest looking font instead of thinking about whether it really fits.
I don’t think I’ll design the same way he does but I do think I want to carry his mindset that is sort of asking, ‘Is this appropriate? Does this have a purpose?’ rather than just making things look flashy. Because like he said, “Good design doesn’t cost more than bad design. The opposite is quite true, very often” (Vignelli, p. 94). I think that’s something worth holding onto, especially in a world that often chooses speed and trends over substance and quality.
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