I wouldn’t want to sell to anyone, but the idea of sharing resources and infrastructure with a couple dozen similar sites is appealing. I’ve often thought about if a collective structure could work for independent content sites. “One vote against and it’s over, truly,” says Miller. The process for bringing in a new partner can take years from start to finish and requires the unanimous consent of the rest of the partners: These all-partner meetings, chaired by one of the partners on a rotating basis, are about sharing work with the group and discussing business dynamics, Pentagram’s publishing program, its website, and trends in the industry. The partners do collaborate with one another, often across disciplines, but essentially operate their own studios, though the local offices meet on a weekly basis and the entire group convenes twice a year. It spreads profits and decision-making power equally among its self-governed partners - all designers - irrespective of seniority or how much business they brought in during a given year. I remain fascinated with how Pentagram operates:Įstablished in 1972, the firm has a collectivist attitude and adheres to a longstanding constitution, which exists in its original form with only small modifications. Maybe it’s different while navigating the space in person, but if not, you have to wonder how helpful hard-to-read signs are to patrons.ĭesign firm Pentagram has brought in a new partner to their New York office, information designer Giorgia Lupi, who joins heavy hitters like Michael Bierut, Paula Scher, and Eddie Opera. I do love the aesthetics of the project, but from the photos, the legibility looks terrible. As someone who believes that design is primarily about how something works and not how something looks, I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t hit that point harder in this post. Not legible, not accessible, and difficult/fiddly to maintain were the main complaints. Update: This post got shared on Twitter by a couple of librarian pals and Librarian Twitter was not impressed by this signage at all.
![pentagram flexi 8 pentagram flexi 8](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/3a8fa9c0-02bb-499a-b200-d9386eca8388_1.bd482f7fd63fffc417e113059b5aed57.jpeg)
![pentagram flexi 8 pentagram flexi 8](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/616Qku1Nr3L._SL1200_.jpg)
The only (but perhaps significant) downside to the signs is that they are not actually super legible when compared to a non-modular alternative. The resin cubes, constructed from a durable material, also translate the timelessness of the library and its long-standing presence throughout the years and into the future. The flexible signage plan, consisting of 25,000 resin cubes, 6000 tableaus and 2,400 numerical shelving characters, enables staff to independently customize information as the library’s collection fluctuates.
![pentagram flexi 8 pentagram flexi 8](https://www.izigsm.pl/photo/as/prestige_slim_flexi_nokia_lumia_630_img_2D_0003.jpg)
#Pentagram flexi 8 free
In handling massive volumes of information and growing library collections, it is essential to free the library staff from rigid systems and equip them with the ability to easily make signage changes. Numerical and alphabetical cubes are the foundation of the BnL’s modular signage system. The signs use cubes (inspired by LED clock displays?) that can be reconfigured into different words by library staff. Sascha Lobe’s team at Pentagram has designed a functional and stylish modular signage system for the National Library of Luxembourg.