Paul Rand

Ever since Peretz Rosenabum, better known now as "Paul Rand", was young he had always had an interest in design. Rand was born in 1914 in Brooklyn, New York and at a young age he would lend a hand in designing signs for his father's grocery store as well as for his school events. Rand's father was not keen on the idea of his son trying to make a living off of art so he forced him into attending Manhattan's Harren High School. He still decided to enroll into art school. He attended Pratt Institute from 1929-1932 and then the Art Students League from 1933-1934. Even though Rand finished art school, he didn't believe that "either of these schools offered Rand much stimulation." With this, Rand is known as being by-and-large "self-taught as a designer, learning about the works of Cassandre and Moholy-Nagy" from European magazines.

Rand's career began with little assignments that obviously grew into larger ones. He started with a part-time position creating stock images for a syndicate that supplied graphic designs for magazines and newspapers. While building his portfolio, Rand had always been influenced by German advertising style Sachplakat, meaning ornamental poster, as well as the work of Gustav Jensen. Also around this time, he decided to hide his Jewish identity and shorten his lengthy name.  He believed that "Peretz Rosenbaum" was too long and decided to create 2 short names both with 4 letters each, giving us "Paul Rand." This name would serve as the brand name for his future accomplishments. 

Starting early, Rand started to create work that got him noticed internationally. He had, free of charge, made designs for the covers of magazines such as "Direction" in exchange for his ability to have complete artistic say in the design. Rand's popularity grew rapidly and didn't seem to trail off at any point. Rather, it only increased consistently. Rand started to make a big name for himself and started to establish himself as a prominent role in the graphic design world. 

Rand made name for himself from the major corporate logos that he has contributed, although his initial reputation was created from his work in page design. In 1936 Rand was assigned the task of designing the page layout for an Apparel Arts magazine. He has been noted for his ability to change dull photographs into awesome compositions. This layout earned Rand a full-time position as the art director for the Esquire-Coronet magazine. Seemingly crazy, Rand denied the position because he didn't feel as if he was ready for what the position entailed. Although, he gave more thought to the opportunity and finally took the position, taking charge of the fashion section of the magazine at the very young age of 23.

Rand's design freedom at Direction magazine served as being a very important thing in his career.Rand was able to experiment with the introduction of themes normally found in the "high arts" into his new graphic design, further advancing his life-long goal of bridging the gap between his profession and that of Europe's modernist masters. 

"On the December 1940 cover, which 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 crucifx, 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 talent did not stop there, however. What he is most notably known for is his contribution to many corporations in creating their identities that have been incredibly well-known throughout the years. IBM, ABC, Cummins Engine, Westinghouse, and UPS are many well-known corporations who have had the advantage of having Rand's hand in creating their now well-known graphic image.

"He almost singlehandedly convinced business that design was an effective tool. [. . .] Anyone designing in the 1950s and 1960s owed much to Rand, who largely made it possible for us to work. He more than anyone else made the profession reputable. We went from being commercial artists to being graphic designers largely on his merits. "

-Louis Danziger

In 1956 Rand created the corporate identity for IBM which was noted to be "not just an identity but a basic design philosophy that permeated corporate consciousness and public awareness."

The logo had been modified  several times before Rand started creating designs for packaging and marketing materials as well.In 1962 Rand also designed the corporate logo for ABC which epitomized the simplistic theme that Rand encorporated within all of his works.

Rand's logos had always been percieved as very simple but he wanted to make a very important point that "ideas do not need to be esoteric to be original or exciting."Rand has said that a logo "cannot survive unless it is designed with the utmost simplicity and restraint." He continued to use his talent with many other corporations throughout his old age. Nearing his death a former client had said that he was simply, "the greatest living graphic designer."

Bibliography:

Heller, Steven. Paul Rand. Phaidon:1999.

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