Design: Vignelli exhibition, Rochester, NY. Product Design

View of the "Design: Vignelli" exhibition, Benetton Galleries, Vignelli Center for Design Studies, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, United States. The "Design: Vignelli" exhibition opened in 2010 at the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, which is also home to their entire professional archives. The exhibition mirrors the "Design: Vignelli" exhibition which toured nine countries between 1989-1993. As with the previous iteration, Lella Vignelli and Massimo Vignelli designed the displays, wrote the descriptive text, and curated the artifacts for the exhibition. It is the last exhibition designed by the Vignellis that is still open to the public.

Text from design: vignelli exhibition label:
Product Design
In product design, form and function are totally integrated; neither one follows the other. All materials have their nature; some are malleable like glass or steel, whereas some, like marble, are not. With some you can obtain precise details as with plastics; with others like pottery and china, you cannot. But all materials either reflect or absorb light according to the finish of the surface. Light is the master of form. Light defines the contour of objects, distinguishes hard and soft, transparent and opaque. In designing objects or products for everyday use, we sense the importance of the user’s perception, and we articulate it to achieve deliberate connotations since whatever is perceived is retained and analyzed one way or another.