Research on Paul Rand

1981 1972

The left image is cleverly created because each letter is symbolised with a picture. Rand liked to create playful images and this image definitely reflects that.

The right image is more suited for a business because the image is plain and simple – it consists of horizontal blue lines. However, there is a lot of hidden meaning to this image because the striped lines looks like venetian blinds, the type of blinds that we usually see on windows of business. It also looks like lines that we would see in an old computer screen, this is a good representation of the company because the company is a computer business. We can see the striped effect on the “m” in the image on the left. If someone hadn’t heard of the company IBM before they might get confused by the symbols shown in the left design.

The Graphic Art of Paul Rand, poster – 1957

Industrial Arts Exposition, poster - 1935

Cummins, poster – 1973

For Pastore Depamphilis, Rampone (PDR), poster - 1985

Dog, painting – 1952

ABC - 1962

NeXT – 1986

All images available from: http://www.paul-rand.com/

All about Paul Rand

“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.” — P A U L R A N D

Even after his death in 1996, Paul Rand remains one of the most famous graphic designers in the world.

He was born Peretz Rosenbaum, on August 15th, 1914, and is reknowned for his corporate designs.

Rand was educated at the (1929–1932), and the Art Students League (1933–1934). He was one of the originators of the Swiss Style of . From 1956 to 1969, and beginning again in 1974, Rand taught design at in New Haven, Connecticut. Rand was inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1972. He designed many posters and corporate identities, including the for IBM, UPS and ABC. Rand died of cancer on November 26th, 1996, and is buried in Beth El Cemetery In Norwalk, CT.

Paul Rand logo designs

ABC Designed 1962

“Should a logo be self-explanatory? It is only by association with a product, a service, a business, or a corporation that a logo takes on any real meaning. It derives its meaning and usefulness from the quality of that which it symbolizes. If a company is second rate, the logo will eventually be perceived as second rate. It is foolhardy to believe that a logo will do its job immediately, before an audience has been properly conditioned.”

IBM Designed 1962

“A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies.”

UPS Designed 1961

“I do not use humour consciously, I just go that way naturally. A well known example is my identity for United Parcels Service: to take an escutcheon – a medieval symbol which inevitably seems pompous today – and then stick a package on top of it, that is funny.”

Speak Up published a story back in 2005 about what is possibly Paul Rand’s final logo design. Nice article.

Paul Rand videos

The following links take you to external websites where you can watch short video clips (via YouTube) about Paul Rand. The interviews are particularly interesting, and certainly worth a look.

interview about working with Paul Rand (1993)  Steven Heller interviews Paul Rand (1994)  Paul Rand Tribute Film (2007)

More info about Paul Rand

Thank you to those people who have compiled the features and discussion below. I enjoyed learning more about the great designer that is Paul Rand.

The Paul Rand website

Michael Bierut talking about Paul Rand’s Enron logo

Paul Rand: Thoughts and despair on logo design

Typographica discussion about the UPS logo redesign

FormFiftyFive discussion about Paul Rand’s Ford logo design

Discussion about the redesign of Paul Rand’s EF logo

Flickr pool of Paul Rand’s work

Rand on modernism

“I haven’t changed my mind about modernism from the first day I ever did it…. It means integrity; it means honesty; it means the absence of sentimentality and the absence of nostalgia; it means simplicity; it means clarity. That’s what modernism means to me…”

Article available from: http://www.logodesignlove.com/all-about-paul-rand http://effy13.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/peretz-rosenbaum-better-known-as-paul- rand/

This image is a great example of figure-ground. We can see a smiley face but also a person with raised arms. The choice of colours, especially green reminds me of football – maybe the person has their arms in the air because they are cheering, maybe there is a smiling face because they are happy that their team are winning. Very positive image!