Lella & Massimo Vignelli
Lella Vignelli, born Elena Valle [Udine 1934 - New York 2016], and Massimo Vignelli [Milan 1931 - New York 2014], lived and worked together for sixty years. In 1957 they married and moved to the United States to work, with scholarships from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and the Institute of Design in Illinois. In 1959, Elena joined Skidmore, Owings & Merril, Chicago, as a junior designer. In 1960 they returned to Milan, where they founded an office dealing with graphic design, corporate identity and industrial design. Their clients included: Olivetti, Pirelli, Poltronova [Saratoga group 1965-71], Penguin Books, the Milan Triennale, the Venice Biennale, Feltrinelli. In 1965 they returned to the United States, where they participated in the founding of Unimark International Corporation for Design, an organization with ten offices on four continents, creator of such emblematic designs as the New York subway signaling system [1966-70].
In 1971, they left Unimark and returned to independent work, founding Vignelli Associates, which worked for some of the most prestigious firms in the world. In 1973, they received the Industrial Art Medal from the American Institute of Architects and, in 1998, another Compasso d'Oro. Numerous exhibitions celebrate their activities and many museums house their pieces. Their archive was donated to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
