Students in Juilee Decker's Museum Studies class enjoying the archives, and the view, during the fall Open House (photo by Juilee Decker)

This fall’s open house–the first of two focusing on the expansive amount of work the Vignellis produced during the 1980s– was a huge success, with visitors both days enjoying a variety of rarely seen design artifacts, items from Archivist Jennifer Whitlock's personal collection, and a vintage soundtrack.

As part of our fall open house, we had the pleasure of hosting Michael Bierut for an Ask Me Anything Design Encounter. Bierut has been a graphic designer for nearly fifty years, having begun his career in 1980 at the office of Lella and Massimo Vignelli. The collection on view included some of his early work for them, and he generously shared his own stories of the Vignellis and design at the time.

With the invasion of digital media, taking the time to write a letter on a piece of paper has become obsolete, or at least a forgotten craft! Even more so if that letter has been typed with a manual typewriter. RZLBD Letters is an ongoing project exploring the capacity of the letter as a medium and the manual typewriter as an instrument beyond their common or utilitarian purpose. Celebrate the release of the book RZLBD Letters with RIT Press and the author, RZLBD (Reza Aliabadi), Founder & Principal, Atelier RZLBD, and Vignelli Center Inaugural Designer in Residence.

Author’s remarks at 5:00. Refreshments will be served. Books will be available for purchase.

November 18, 2024
4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
University Gallery Building
Room/Location: 2700

The 2025 Vignelli Center for Design Studies Summer Workshop will be postponed, as we take a moment to refine and improve this event. Interested participants can be added to a waitlist by emailing Director Josh Owen.

Celebrate the release of the book RZLBD Letters with RIT Press and the author, RZLBD (Reza Aliabadi).

Organized by students, this fashion show event features garments crafted by local designers as well as wearables designed by RIT students— all influenced by artifacts from the Vignelli archives. Tickets on soon at RIT ShopONE 

"Dialogues and Design Embassies" - Examples of international and intercultural exchange in design education. A Vignelli Center for Design Studies lecture by Professor Marion Digel from Folkwang University of the Arts and Celina Kroder, Folkwang graduate (MA).

The Vignelli’s Design is One philosophy leaves us with a universal message that design is a lens through which we can envision a more inclusive tomorrow.

- Josh Owen

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