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vignellicenter:

It’s Manuals Monday!

Manuals Monday is back! Most Mondays we feature an excerpt from a graphics standards manual from the archives.

Today’s manual features Massimo Vignelli’s sketched mockup draft for the Washington DC Metro graphics program recently discovered in the archives.

Here is the project described in the Vignellis’ own words from our design: Vignelli exhibition label:

“Washington MetroTransportation Graphic Program1968The architect of the Washington Metro is Harry Weese. When he asked us to design the signage for his majestic subway stations, he specified that he did not want anything to be attached to the walls or to interfere with the architectural statement, so we decided to make use of some freestanding outdoor pylons inside the station platforms: one element only, at the point of need, to carry all the required information. The whole system was so well designed that there was very little need for graphics. However, someone finally found a way to clutter it with redundant signs. Tremendous discipline is required to implement and protect a mass-transportation sign system, and very few cities seem to have the ability to overcome a laissez-faire attitude.”

We have shared other DC Metro artifacts from the archives: https://vignellicenter.tumblr.com/search/wmata 

You can also view some artifacts in our Digital archives: https://artsandculture.google.com/search?q=vignelli%20wmata