Designing for Sustainability

I ran across a video of Massimo Vignelli giving a presentation in the Heller showroom, sad to say, it was difficult to understand Mr. Vignelli, but I was reminded of the time he gave a presentation at the Cooper Hewitt Museum and the audience didn't care what he said - we were so mesmerized by his charm. He is of course a designer's designer, but what is most impressive about his work is how well it has stood up over the years. He embodies the true spirit of sustainability.

Think American Airlines and Knoll branding and the brochures for our National Parks - his work is both lasting and has lasting impact on our visual landscape. He shares his personal vision of design in a book The Vignelli Canon which is available to read online.

He shares concepts so appropriate for our current economic climate:
"We are definitively against any fashion of design
and any design fashion. We despise the culture of
obsolescence, the culture of waste, the cult of the
ephemeral. We detest the demand of temporary
solutions, the waste of energies and capital for the
sake of novelty.
We are for a Design that lasts, that responds to
people’s needs and to people’s wants. We are
for a Design that is committed to a society that
demands long lasting values. A society that earns
the benefit of commodities and deserves respect
and integrity."