Paul Rand (real name: Peretz Rosenbaum) was born in New York in August 15, 1914. He was a well-known American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs. He was one of the originators of the Swiss Style of graphic design. In an interesting way the chronology of Paul Rand's design experience has paralleled the development of the modern design movement. Between 1929 and 1934, Paul Rand studied in New York at the Pratt Institute, the Parsons School of Design, and the Art Students League. Paul Rand's first career in media promotion and cover design ran from 1936 to 1941, Paul Rand was art director of "Esquire" and "Apparel Arts" magazines while from 1938-1945 he also designed the acclaimed covers of "Direction" magazine. His second career in advertising design ran from 1941 until 1954, Paul Rand was art director of the William H. Weintraub advertising agency in New York. His third career in corporate identification began in 1954. Paralleling these three careers there has been a consuming interest in design education and Paul Rand's fourth career as an educator started at Cooper Union in 1942. He taught at Pratt Institute in 1946 and in 1956 he accepted a post at Yale University's graduate school of design where he held the title of Professor of Graphic Design. From 1956 Paul Rand freelanced as a graphic designer and consultant for Westinghouse and IBM. Paul Rand was the designer who developed so many of the celebrated logos of such big companies and famous institutions as Westinghouse, NeXT Computer, IBM, United Parcel Service (UPS), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and Yale University. In addition, Paul Rand found time to be a professor of graphic design at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Paul Rand is the author of several important books on design, including "Thoughts on Design" (1947), "Design and the Play Instinct" (1955), "A Designer's Art" (1985), and "Design, Form and Chaos" (1993). Rand died of cancer in November 26, 1996.
Designer's influences as well as who this designer influenced.
A pioneer of American graphic design, Paul Rand was influenced in his early work by Cubism, Constructivism, De Stijl, Expressionism, as well as the Bauhaus, applying the principles learned from these avant-garde schools of art to graphic design. He came to appreciate a relationship between geometric form and color through the works of artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Adolphe Mouron Cassandre and Moholy Nagy as well as an understanding of line through the works of artists such as Paul Klee. Rand developed elements from these artists and fused them with the American Modernist Movement that grew out of the 1930’s which was a movement that continued to change and grow as the twentieth century progressed. During Rand’s time, modernist art expression started to merge with American pop culture. Other designers of the time, such as Lester Beall, Saul Bass and Bradbury Thompson embraced this exposure of design to the mainstream through advertising, logo design, poster design, book jackets, packaging, etc. Most of these artist’s works from the time incorporate bold color, basic geometric form, playful typography and a obvious experimentation with formal decision-making. These elements are repeated in Paul Rand’s work but in a style that is indicatively his own. Besides, Picasso was one of Rand’s primary influences. He was fascinated by the way Picasso and Braque collaged materials all on one surface of unrelated ideas. These collages strongly influenced Rand’s work, which were reminiscent of abstract, geometric paintings. Rand did experiment with many of his designs with the use of photomontages and collages.
Paul Rand was an idealist and a realist using the language of the poet and the businessman. He thinks in terms of need and function. He is able to analyze his problems, but his fantasy is boundless. Rand also a part of movement in the 1940's and 50's in which American designer's coming up with original styles. He was a major figure in this change that had a focus on freeform layouts that were much less structured than prominent European design. Rand used collage, photography, artwork and unique use of type to engage his audience. When viewing Rand’s ad, a viewer is challenged to think, interact, and interpret it. Using clever, fun, unconventional and risky approaches to the use of shapes, space, and contrast, Rand created a unique user experience. It was perhaps put most simply and accurately when Rand was featured in one of Apple's classic ads that stated, "Think Different," and that's exactly what he did. Modernist design is still prevalent in the modern corporate world thanks to Rand’s effective use of iconic sans serif type and simple, direct imagery. His designs were often seen as modernist, because of his use of typography.
Paul Rand influenced a wide range of the print design work we see today. Many corporate logos, such as Rob Janoff’s 1977 Apple logo and Saul Bass’ 1984 AT&T logo, have a clear resemblance to Rand’s simple style. Other contemporary designers such as, Alan Fletcher, Edward Johnston and many others, seems to have taken elements from Paul Rand’s bold style and incorporated them into their own, creating successful new designs with geometric shapes, basic color and simple typography.
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| The IBM logo |
