NYCTA, AA, Vignelli, et al

A fascinating, interactive documentation of Massimo Vignelli's New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual was apparently discovered "in a locker under some old gym clothes". You'll want to take a look, as this document describes all considerations for signage use, from the typeface and its kerning to at what height signage should be hung, and all things in between. Rather fascinating!

You'll remember our friend Vignelli from the film Helvetica. Among many other accomplishments, he was also responsible for the American Airlines identity design. Speaking of which, you may have heard that recently American Airlines merged wih US Airways. In that transaction, it was decided that the AA logo would stay, but that US Airways' CEO would stay. I thought, great! That's smart. A little more research yielded the fact that AA already had a new logo in the works – that's after 45 years having used Vignelli's iconic design. Already, too, there is discussion in the design world over whether or not this was a good decision. Read the articles, but also have a look at the comments, too. What do you think?

Massimo Vignelli's American Airlines logo, 1967

Related articles:

Logo Crash Test

Ire and Deja Vu

Talking About the New AA Logo

10 Observations

Vignelli Weighs In!

And finally, please have a look at FutureBrand's actual case study of the AA rebranding (PDF), which explains the hows and whys of the redesign, which not only included the planes themselves, but every aspect of the business – from menus to the website.