P A U L
R A N D

"Design is the method of putting form and content
together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single
definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so
simple,
that's why it is so complicated."

Paul Rand (1914 - 1996), was an American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs. Educated at the pratt Institute (1929–1932), and the Art Students League (1933–1934). He was one of the strongest proponents of the swiss style of graphic design in America. Rand taught design at Yale university and was inducted into the New York Art directors club Hall of Fame in 1972.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy expressed paul as "one of the best and most 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 business man. He thinks in terms of need and function. He is able to analyze his problems but his fantasy is boundless."

The December 1940 cover "Direction" Rand uses barbed wire to present the magazine as both a war-torn gift and a crucifix, is indicative of the artistic freedom Rand enjoyed at Direction; in Thoughts on Design Rand notes that it “is significant that the crucifix, aside from its religious implications, is a demonstration of pure plastic form as well . . . a perfect union of the aggressive vertical(male) and the passive horizontal (female)."

Rand's widely known contribution to graphic design are his corporate identities, including logos for IBM, UPS, Westinghouse, and ABC.

Rand had the ability as a salesman to explain the needs his identities would address for the corporation. Quote "He almost singlehandedly convinced business that design was an effective tool" Louis Danziger.

Although Rand's logos may be interpreted as simplistic, Rand explained Quote “ideas do not need to be esoteric to be original or exciting."

Rand passed at the age of 82, The core ideology that drove Rand’s career, and hence his lasting influence, was the modernist philosophy he so revered, attemptingto draw the connections between their creative output and significant applications in graphic design.

Quote "From Impressionism to Pop Art, the commonplace and even the comic strip have become ingredients for the artist’s cauldron. What Cézanne did with apples, Picasso with guitars, Léger with machines, Schwitters with rubbish, and Duchamp with urinals makes it clear that revelation does not depend upon grandiose concepts. The problem of the artist is to defamiliarize the ordinary" Rand

Miscellany cover for Design Quarterly

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rand

http://www.mkgraphic.com/paulrand.html

http://www.paul-rand.com/

www.dlsdesign.com/paul_rand

www.amazon.com/Paul-Rand