Paul Rand

Paul Rand was born in 1914. He is considered to be a main figure when it comes to American graphic design. He started to study in the Pratt Institute between 1929 and 1932, continued in the Parsons School of Design between 1932 and 1933 and then in the Art Students League, a year after. 

When it comes to posters and logos, Rand designed for IBM and ABC. In 1937, Rand started his career in media promotion and cover design, continued in advertising and then in corporate identification (in 1954). Later, he taught design at the Yale University in which he held the title of Professor of Graphic Design. 

Throughout the years, despite having a busy schedule, Paul Rand developed a number of covers for various magazines. Most contemporary designers are aware of Rand's successful contributions when it comes to advertising. Rand may be considered as a significant artist  in setting a pattern for the future of the advertising concept. 

Paul Rand died in 1996.

Paul Rand's work in graphic design:

This poster was part of an exhibition called "The Graphic Art of Paul Rand" in 1970. Rand took the idea of a hand with the spinning top - a perceptive metaphor of the artful and harmony of his designs. 

  

In 1945, Rand created a magazine advertisement for Coronet Brandy. It was one of his first advertising campaigns. Rand developed a set of variations on the theme of the waiter, whom he personified as the Coronet Brandy Man, with a head shaped like a brandy glass. In such an advertisement, one can easily notice that Paul Rand uses sans serif as a font, primary and secondary flat colours and also halftone screen dots which is placed as a background. 

Modern art taught Rand the power of negative and positive space and the arrangement of cut-out forms of colour. These elements are evident in this poster (1988) for the Third International Exhibition of the Art Directors Club of New York done.

This poster for NeXT computers was done in 1986. The logo for the new educational computer company NeXT resembled a child's building block while also making reference to the "black box" of computer technology. Very minimal colour used infact each letter has a different bright colour which stands out from the bulkiness of the black colour box. 

In 1981, Rand created a poster for IBM. He worked on IBM's corporate identity for many years. One of his most ingenious logos for the business-machinery giant is based on visual representations of the "eye" and the "bee", combined with the letter "M" of the already familiar three-letter logo. The elements of such poster include: flat and bright colours which create a contrast between them and the black background, illustrated visuals and horizontal lines which are contained in the centre of the "bee" and also in the letter "M". Even the grid system takes place in this poster and this makes the visuals in the middle of the poster having equal spacing. 

Invitation for Art Directors Club of Cincinnati (1994). 

For this invitation, Rand  adapted a design originally used in the book illustration "I Know a Lot of Things" (1956), in which the letters are placed in the form of a human body. Once again flat  primary and secondary colours are used and also very minimal text and these keep a design simple yet more appealing to the viewers' eye. 

Conversation with Paul Rand:

Reference

Beazley, M., Aynsley, J., eds., 2004. Pioneers of Modern Graphic Design: A Complete History. London: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.

Elif Ayiter, N/A. The History of Visual Communication. [online] Available at: <http://www.citrinit as.com/history_of_viscom/index.html> [Accessed December 2013].