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31 1965: Unimark International Unimark International opened for business in January 1965 with six founding partners and offices in Chicago, Milan, and New York. Officially, the founders were Ralph Eckerstrom, Massimo Vignelli, Bob Noorda, Larry Klein, James Fogelman, plus Wally Gutches as business manager, but Jay Doblin was also involved from the beginning. His name remained off the public record in deference to his leadership position at the Institute of Design. Eckerstrom was president, the others, including Massimo, were vice presidents. Vignelli, Klein, and Fogelman held the additional titles of directors of design.1 The name Unimark said it all. “Uni” implies united, or unified in English. In Italian, it was one. “Mark” could imply marketing as some people wanted, or as Massimo preferred to think, in Italian, “marco” meant making a mark. Altogether Unimark was one mark, one way of doing things. The final blended name satisfied everyone, but that blend needed to carry throughout the company’s approach and effort. It rarely did. Through Unimark, Massimo anticipated an opportunity to “spread the gospel of functional design.” The Vignelli modernist visual language would strongly influence the output of the new company, as would reliance upon the Helvetica typeface (which was just becoming widely available in the United States. Unimark’s use of Helvetica, and Massimo’s continuing use of it after Unimark, would contribute to what became a ubiquitous worldwide presence). Their drive would be objectivity—to develop a form, a message, from a structural point rather than from a subjective, emotional one, and to create consistency through a unified and comprehensive systemic approach to visual identity. These were not unique ideas, but they were relatively uncommon in the mid-century United States. At the same time, the company, or at least some members of it, also intended to advance contemporary ideas for marketing research and public relations. Entrepreneur Robert Craig knew nearly all of the important players in the design profession from his leadership role with the International Design 32 Conference in Aspen, and he observed their reactions to Unimark’s promotional efforts. He was also a part of Unimark in the early years of the company. “There was a certain amount of jealousy and discomfort with Unimark’s approach,” Craig said. “Unimark was far reaching, and with the vision of a truly international approach, it went against the grain of the socalled hot shots who were ingrown in talent and in connections.”2 Almost unbelievably, through a combination of charisma, enthusiasm, persuasive credentials, and a bit of luck, the newly formed Unimark prevailed over established, respected designers to secure the contract for a worldwide identity system for Ford Motor Company as their first major client. The development of the Ford system illuminated another aspect of Massimo’s thinking that would remain consistent for his entire career. Though some designers, Paul Rand in particular, had urged Ford to abandon the existing logo, Massimo took an alternative view and recommended that Ford retain it. “There is equity in that logo,” he said, arguing that the best decision was simply cleaning it up and integrating it into an orderly system. “Do not deny history,” he said. “American culture is based on novelty, on difference; Europeans are not interested in new ways as much as they are interested in refining a concept which has existed through the centuries. It is a continuing evolution, not a revolution.” It was a stance that he would repeat with other clients in years to come. The argument for respecting history and avoiding obsolescence was effective in engaging with clients, who often had mixed feelings about giving up an existing symbol. Suggesting a cleanup rather than abandonment of the logo often built a bond with the client, making it easier to advance other changes toward an overall plan. Over the next several years, Unimark played a significant role in redefining the identity for many of America’s leading companies: Alcoa, American Airlines, JCPenney, Knoll, Memorex, Trans Union, and many more. They did the same around the world: Agip and Dreher Brewery in Italy; Truman Brewery and Jaguar in England; Horters Limited, Standard Bank, Huletts Sugar, and Mondi Valley Paper in South Africa. Unimark’s work was not confined to identity systems. They designed signage and mapping for transit systems in New York, São Paolo, Washington D.C., and Denver; and signage systems for several hospitals. They created innovative electronics for Panasonic, consumer products for Gillette, and medical devices for Parke Davis. The company developed exhibition...

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