Back in 2012, in the basement of the New York Pentagram office, Jesse Reed, along with his colleague Hamish Smyth, unexpectedly came across a piece of design history - the original New York City Transit Authority graphic standards manual, a modernist masterpiece designed by Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda.

This was the moment that lead to the pair founding Standards Manual, an independent publisher focused on archiving and preserving artefacts of design history to make them available for future generations.

In this episode, Ian interviews Jesse Reed to learn more about the origins of Standards Manual, lessons learned from preserving the historical documents, as well as behind the scenes lessons learned working with design legend, Michael Beirut. We also discover how Jesse co-founded the Brooklyn-based design office, Order.

Show notes and episode transcription can be found here: https://logogeek.uk/podcast/standards-manuals

Book & Resources Mentioned

• New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual - Buy on Amazon UK | Amazon US
• Environmental Protection Agency Graphic Standards System - Buy on Amazon UK | Amazon US
• NASA Graphics Standards Manual - Buy on Amazon UK | Amazon US
• The Worm - Available for Pre-order
• Parks - Buy on Amazon UK | Amazon US
• Identity: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv - Buy on Amazon UK | Amazon US
• Unit Editions Manuals 1 and Manuals 2.
• Logo Package Express 2.0.