Paul Rand is not only an influencer on graphic design, but arguably considered the father of it. He’s best known for his work with corporate logo designs such as IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Westinghouse, ABC, and NeXT. He was one of the first to embrace and practice Swiss Style in American commercial graphic design. This style is defined by its asymmetric layouts, use of grids, and sans-serif typefaces. He was also a professor of graphic design at Yale University for a number of years.
In his early years he made illustrations for a union that sold them to newspapers and magazines. However, wanting more freedom he went solo at the age of 21 and created layouts and ads for a small group of clients. The ad above is one created in this period.
Additionally, he feared that his Jewish identity could limit the amount of work he got so he legally changed his name from Peretz Rosenbaum to Paul Rand. This name change would foreshadow his brilliance with brand identity.
His work was unique because it adopted European modernism and American spirit and functionalism in graphic design. László Moholy-Nagy, one of Europe’s most famous modernist designers commented that Rand is”an idealist and a realist, who uses the language of the poet and the businessman.”
Rand was also there for the birth of corporate identities. Before, all visual media was conveyed by advertising, but companies quickly understood that to survive you have to stand out. Rand would create an identity for one of the largest corporations, IBM. IBM wanted to break with the conservative image of corporations and look towards the future. IBM’s new identity now was seen as a global, moving, recognizable work of art.
Paul Rand’s work is brilliant and simple. He balances art with practicality and makes logos and ads look good while simultaneously getting the message across. It is something I aspire to do. In filmmaking you can’t just have good shots or just have a good story. You need to mix the two together. It is hard to find the right balance but Rand does this seamlessly in his work. However, I know that he didn’t wake up and just start creating brilliant designs. He achieved his brilliance through practice and hard work. His diligence and relentlessness made him great and inspire me to work harder and try my best with everything I try to create.
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