PA RA Enemy of mediocrity.
LUCIA VAUGHAN
Born
Attended Pratt Institute
(August 15, 1914)
(1929-1932)
ing h t y r e “Ev ... n g i s e is d
every- !” thing
One might not think a sense of humor could be a crucial element of groundbreaking design, and many may agree that it certainly isn’t. However, hugely famous and highly esteemed graphic designer Paul Rand would beg to differ. As the leading man in corporate logo and advertising design in the better part of the 20th century, it’s not surprising that he has left such an enormous impression on the world of design, even now, nearly eighteen years after his death in 1996.
His influence can be seen in the widespread proliferation of Swiss Style design, which he helped pioneer. It can be seen in the corporate stamps of IBM, UPS, ABC, and Westinghouse, as well as in the contemporary logo styles they all inspired. Most importantly, it can be seen in the musings and methods every designer during the creative process, not only for commercial purposes, but also any form of visual media.
Attended Parsons School of Design (1932-1933)
Attended the Art Students League (1933-1934)
Promise of greatness Rand’s life began in 1914, born as Peretz Rosenbaum to a strict Orthodox Jewish family among the bustling city streets and bright lights of Brooklyn, New York. His love and appreciation for commercial art began at a very early age when he painted signs for his father’s grocery store, as well as other projects for school events at P.S. 109 in East New York. When he reached high school, he began taking night classes at the Pratt Institute (19291932)to sharpen his skills. But even after finishing these, moving on to
Parson’s School of Design (1932-1933) and the Art Student’s League (1933-1934), he was not completely satisfied and asserted that most of his art education originated from self-taught methods and independent studies, especially surrounding the works of Cassandre and László Maholy-Nagy. The result of his education was a frame of mind dedicated to being both cuttingedge and restrained, touting classic modern art concepts while also, cautiously, embracing select contemporary styles.
Direction Magazine December 1940, Vol. III #9
Direction Magazine March 1939, Vol. II #2
Art director of ‘Esquire’ and ‘Apparel Arts’
Designed ‘Direction’ covers (1938-1945)
Art director of William H. Weintraub Ad Agency (1941-1955)
(1936-1941)
1 2
3
4
1: UPS logo (1961) 2: IBM logo (1981) 3: Westinghouse logo (1960) 4: ABC logo (1962)
Instructor at Pratt Institute (1946)
Published ‘Trademarks of Paul Rand’ (1960)
A quick rise to fame
large portfolio that allowed him to enter the advertising industry with relative ease. Within the short Perhaps the most significant span of his early twenties, word of concept gleaned from his studies Rand’s prowess made waves that was a dictum by avant-garde traveled all across the country, architect Le Corbusier: “To be falling upon ears eager to hear modern is not a fashion, it is a about the young man from New state.” In response to this, Rand York taking the most worn-out became an artist who valued concepts and transforming them artistic methods and executions into strikingly simple, new, and that felt best to him, well over effective solutions. fads. Everything about his His notoriety continued to approach to a project was natural, skyrocket when he began to nearly effortless; he believed a successful piece would come about produce covers of Direction magazine, which he produced on its own with good intentions and the right frame of mind. Said for free in exchange for artistic freedom, a request that was Rand on his knack for simplicity, enthusiastically granted. Rand’s for example, “Simplicity is not the early mastery of simplicity and goal. It is the byproduct of a good artistic dynamism displayed in idea and modest expectations.” these works garnered the attention His illustrious career began of international eyes, including with humble beginnings, those of one of his greatest idols, producing stock images for a Maholy-Nagy. Said Maholy-Nagy syndicate that supplied graphics of Rand: “Among these young for magazines and newspapers. Between these and his schoolwork, Americans it seems to be that Paul Rand is one of the best and most Rand was able to amass a fairly
capable [. . .] He is a painter, lecturer, industrial designer, [and] advertising artist who draws his knowledge and creativeness from the resources of this country. He is an idealist and a realist, using the language of the poet and businessman. He thinks in terms of need and function. He is able to analyze his problems but his fantasy is boundless.”
The legend himself
With such high praise, one might think Rand would take the opportunity to allow his creative efforts to plateau, yet he continued to drive forward nonetheless. However, this did not mean that he ever strayed from his most precious guiding principles, mostly centered around the intricacies (or lack thereof ) of modernism, even up to his final years. Said Rand during a lecture
Won AIGA Gold Medal (1966)
Inducted into New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame (1972)
Listen! Listen! cover (1970)
Coronet Brandy (1941)
Container Corporation of America (1946)
at the Cooper Union in 1996, “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…” He especially applied this philosophy to his most widely known, distinguished work, his corporate identity designs. The corporate powerhouses IBM, ABC, UPS, and Westinghouse all benefitted from Rand’s logo revitalizations, among many others, and a few fetched draw-dropping rates as high as $100,000 a pop. His 1956 IBM logo was perhaps his crowning achievement, featuring an eye, a bee, and a striped ‘M’ to add a sense of playfulness to the traditionally conservative corporation. Experts in the field might say that the reason Rand’s identity solutions were so effective was because he understood the true purpose of a logo, which is not to make a business better, but to identify an already great business. He believed
Professor at Yale University (1974-1993)
Designed iconic ‘Eye-Bee-M’ poster
Died
(November 26, 1996)
(1981)
that the subject of the logo was not as important as the brand it represents. In his book, Design, Form, and Chaos, Rand quite poetically described his perception of the ideal logo: “A logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies. A logo is rarely a description of a business. A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around. A logo is less important than the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like. The subject matter of a logo can be almost anything.” He also realized that in order for a logo to communicate to its best degree, it needed to be as starkly simple as possible and dependent on basic geometry. This is described in another of his books, From Lascaux to Brooklyn, as he examines the “exuberant” structure of the Church of St. Basil in the Kremlin and subsequently postulates that, “One quickly realizes that simplicity and geometry are the language of timelessness and universality.” Rand’s influence has been so lasting,
not only because of his profound design philosophies, but also because his work was so adaptive, stretching across multiple decades and adapting to each one flawlessly. For example, he continued his work on many of his logo designs over the years so they would fit their respective company’s image as the years passed.
The legacy His contributions to the design world will likely endure for many more years to come, permeating every variation of artistic expression. To him, there was nothing free from the influence of art, and therefore, artistic value. What a privilege it would have been to see through a pair of eyes so acutely aware of aesthetic harmony and efficacy, so sensitive to the art of communication. Although that opportunity will never be realized, he left students and practitioners of design with many words of wisdom, including this favorite of many, “Everything is design. Everything!”
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