an international design firm, was founded in Chicago by a group of partners including Ralph Eckerstrom, James K. Fogleman, and Massimo Vignelli. The firm rejected individualistic design, believing that design could be a system: a basic structure set up so that other people could implement it effectively. The basic tool for this effort was the grid, which standardized all graphic communications for dozens of large clients, including Alcoa, Ford Motor Company, JCPenney, Memorex, Panasonic, Steelcase, and Xerox. Helvetica was the preferred typeface for all their visual identity systems, as it was considered the most legible type family. Objectivity was the firm s goal, and it spread a generic conformity across the face of multinational corporate communications. The design programs that it created were rational and so rigorously systemized that they became virtually foolproof as long as the standards were maintained.