I recently had the pleasure of reading The Vignelli Canon by Massimo Vignelli which you could find here<\/a>. A brilliant designer, Massimo Vignelli<\/a>, paved the way for many graphic designers thanks to his passion for design. In this short book, he writes about different aspects of design and how designers can benefit from knowing what each one does. He wrote this book during a time where a lot of digital tools we have now, weren’t present. Some of his thoughts may not resemble how we create designs today but they can still be applied in some ways. As you read further I will touch on some topics he wrote about and how we may see it today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Part 1- The Intangibles<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discipline:<\/strong> The idea that everything you add to a design is important and you should not be careless with what you include in your design. It also means to have intent with your creative process. I believe we see a lot of discipline in artworks surrounding activism. A lot of these designs all have been curated to emphasize a specific feeling that is deemed important by groups of people. You can also find discipline in designs for ads as they are made to persuade a certain audience to consume or partake in something. Without discipline you would come across a lot of pieces that don’t necessarily serve a purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Visual Power:<\/strong> Using different scales, colors, typography and layout to give you designs more dimension. Gives the design piece a meaningful purpose. I see the most visual power in packaging whether it’s for food, shoes, or any type of product that you could buy. Most of the time products are enlarged to gravitate the viewer to be able to see what the object is. The balance between colors, scales and typography also help to make a design seem less flat and give it more character. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Timelessness:<\/strong> Included in designs that do not cater to current trends. Focuses on the message of the piece and not what would appeal to large audiences. Timelessness is found in logos such as Apple<\/a>, iconic characters like Disney Princesses<\/a>, restaurants like Outback Steakhouse. Good designs are created with the intention of something that will never change or face minor edits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Part 2- The Tangibles<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flush Left, Centered, Justified:<\/strong> Most of us were taught to read from left to right which is why most of our writing alignment is flushed to the left. Each text alignment works for certain types of written work. Which is why knowing which one to use is important in your designs. We see this in textbooks, articles, announcements etc. Helps the viewer to read long texts easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scale:<\/strong> Can be used to emphasize certain aspects of design. Something that should be mastered as it is prevalent in what people create. Most designs you come across have a main focus which is usually scaled to be bigger to draw the eye. Commonly seen in book and album covers, posters and almost any type of visual design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sequence:<\/strong> How the entire design is laid out. Giving a design a pattern of text and then images and repeating it but having them vary in location can help make said project more easy to read and analyze. Can be found in blogs, social media posts, and books. Seeing things split up into sections can encourage the viewer to want to read your design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion <\/p>\n\n\n\n Vignelli’s book is something that should be read and referred to by any creative person. Most of his key findings can be applied to digital media and even written materials (writing your own article for example). Vignelli may have been a fan of more simple and minimalistic designs but just as everything you see on the internet, take it with a grain of salt. You can adapt many of his key findings to fit your style as a designer and still look back to his tips during your creation process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ll leave you with this inspiring interview with Massimo Vignelli. <\/p>\n\n\n\n