In 1968 Vignelli was contracted by Knoll to re-envision the corporate identity and graphics program, resulting in the Knoll logo in Helvetica and the introduction of Pantone Super Warm Red as the company color. The work done for Knoll, in addition to giving us our signature graphics, launched the Vignellis to international renown as premier modern graphic designers.
In 1983 they returned to Knoll to design the Handkerchief Chair. Using compression molded plastics, they conducted a fabrication and design investigation that lasted 5 years, and ultimately captured the lightness and organic ease of a handkerchief drifting in the wind.
The firm introduced the Paperclip table in 1994 as a complement to the Handkerchief. Massimo Vignelli: “We wanted to give these chairs their own table: same lightness, same feeling, same uses.” Echoing the bent wire base of the chair, and the overall visual lightness achieved by the signature seat, the designers were able to translate the essence of what made the Handkerchief so elegant to the Paperclip Table.