I was away when Massimo Vignelli passed, but I came across this in a drawer yesterday. A 1972 subway map of his mastermind that I picked up on ebay as inspiration.
I only had one real interaction with Mr. Vignelli. It was in the 90s, and I was called to work on a project for a watch company. It was a very attractive client, and they gathered a group of illustrious designers. I seem to recall that Tucker Viemeister was there, and the Vignellis. I was one of the youngest and most inexperienced. The meeting fell apart when it became apparent that the client did not want to pay for the design work. Its an age old problem, and I was very happy to have Mr. Vignelli there to explain the economics of design to the CEO.