Design is won

Internationally acclaimed modernist designer Massimo Vignelli spoke to a full auditorium last night about the principles of design, be it graphic, interior, furniture, or jewelry.
"Good designers are cultural approachers," he said. "Everything you do will reflect that kind of policy."
According to Vignelli, design has two main purposes: functional and decorative. The most imporant task is striking a balance between these two elements.
"If any one (element) is exclusively expressed, something is missing," he said. "In music and literature, you have these issues, so why not in design?"
He showed slides of a compact dish set and black laquered couches from the 1960s which were very forward-looking, as most Italian designers today rely on a similar model for high-scale furniture that is popular throughout Europe.
Vignelli showed an image of furniture inside boxes by means of which he inteded to show the scale of the furniture within the space allotted.
He explained that the design of newspapers also rely on the use of space within columns. The example he showed exploited space very little, which is of course not as pleasing to the eye.
What was even more important to Vignelli was the role of light. "A lot in design deals with surfaces and the effect of light," he said.
While this may seem obvious, it is his attention to basic principles and sleek design that makes his work so elegant and timeless.
Fashion designers or web designers can all aspire to Vignelli's restrained, yet graceful approach, to creating everything from bags for department stores to cubic jewelry.