Paul Rand: Father Of Modern Graphic Design

“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand”

Few designers have left such an indelible impact on the field of graphic design as Paul Rand. Known for his corporate logo designs, Rand’s unique ideas and thoughtful philosophy around design have shaped the industry, earning him recognition as a pioneering and original thinker. This article aims to explore Paul Rand’s remarkable influence on the world of design.

Born in Brooklyn from Orthodox Jewish parents, Paul Rand started practicing his art as early as 3 when he recopied commercials in his parents’ shop. Well not exactly recopying, because the Jewish religion represses figurative representation. This is probably where his interest in abstraction began.

In 1934, after taking lessons at New York’s Pratt Institute and the Art Students League, Rand began his career by making illustrations for a union that sold them to newspapers and magazines for advertising and articles. The following year, yearning for more control over his work, Rand went solo, creating layouts and ads for a small group of clients. He was 21 years old. During this period, concerned that his Jewish identity might hinder his progression in the professional world, especially in advertising, he changed his name from Peretz Rosenbaum to Paul Rand — a name that since became iconic, foreshadowing his genius in brand identity. With his editorial designs, advertisements, and visual identity works, Rand brought avant-garde European ideas to the United-States, mixing visual arts and commercial design.

He brought winds of change to Madison Avenue by creating advertisements inspired by the famous German Bauhaus school, or by movements such as De Stijl or Russian constructivism. Rand was convinced that the strength of graphic design lies in its ability to be a universal language, through the simplicity and geometry of its forms. His distinctive signature was praised by László Moholy-Nagy, a master of the Bauhaus and one of Europe’s most famous modernist designers, who had recently immigrated to Chicago. “Among all these young Americans, he writes, it seems that Paul Rand is one of the best and most competent. He is an idealist and a realist, who uses the language of the poet and the businessman.” In 1940, World War II started after it broke out on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Therefore, people around the world were apprehensive, especially given memories of World War I, which had ended two decades earlier, were still fresh. As such, Rand’s ingenuity to play around with images to convey a deep message that resonated with millions of people affected by the war. Consequently, it suffices to argue that Rand’s work, at the time, was influenced by the socio-political issues that were happening around him. In addition, Rand’s work was affected by these issues. This argument is important because it forms the basis for understanding his other designs starting from the 1950s. One of his most iconic covers was the 1940 christmas cover which reflected on Nazi-occupied Europe at the time. The cover incorporated a piece of barbed wire that crossed the cover that a ribbon on a box, along with red lots that represented blood droplets and a gift tag, this cover pushed the limits of graphic design to new levels. It was through this that Rand was able to develop, experiment and expand his design techniques which refined his style and allowed him to create the works we know him best for. Rand’s work was regularly featured in the daily lives of Americans in advertising posters and logos for consumption brands, from alcohol to make-up.

By 1946, Rand was starting to build quite a good reputation among the design industry. This was the year that he decided to write the first of four books about his work and ideas within design. “Thoughts on Design” was published by Wittenborn Books and was a book that not only gave an overview of his work and designs but also to teach the reader about certain principles around advertising design. By incorporating images of work that he created, the book clearly identifies the certain principles within design and Rand uses his work to explain the princess further.

From 1956 to 1991, Paul Rand signed the identity of one of the largest corporate design projects in North American history: IBM (International Business Machines Corporation). This is the very beginning of corporate graphic identities. Before, all visual media was conveyed by advertising, but companies quickly understood that to survive in this jungle of images you have to stand out, and not only through advertising. Above all, it was crucial to set distance with the communists; presenting a modernist and innovative image was an obvious solution! Loves hired Rand because he felt that IBM looked outdated and needed a serious revamp and knew that Rand was the man for the job. Rand came in and did exactly that, he redesigned everything from the iconic logo to their packaging. Rand’s redesign of the IBM is one of his most well known and iconic designs, the design reflects on how the company changes not only on the face of it but also in their profits. The logo is famous around the world due to its simplicity, although it is similar to the previous logs, it projects a stronger corporate image whilst including colours instead of the black it was previously. The horizontal lines within the logo can be seen as representing the dynamism and goodwill of the company. Along with the capitalised lettering which illustrates authority and presence which is exactly what the IBM wanted to.

IBM is the first company for which he conceives a brand identity and all visual communication campaigns. While this is only a fraction of his work, his achievements for ABC, UPS, Westinghouse, Cummins or Enron become visible and ubiquitous in the United States and abroad. They are the symbol of a post-war global culture crowning the political, military and commercial success of the United States. His work is available on his website.

Rand’s multiple renderings illustrate the versatility of its logos on various platforms, from advertising to packaging, stationery or signage. When he presented his creative idea, Rand presented only one concept to his clients in brochures he had designed and written himself. He developed it well beyond the demand, to point out the quality and potential of the proposed design, and anticipate any customer request. For control purposes, Paul Rand could sometimes go so far as to negotiate a lower remuneration, in order to be sure to remain in control of his work. Uncompromising on THE solution he offered on paper, he was supported by Noyes who rounded off the angles orally, and finished persuading the reticent bosses. The eye-bee-M logo, created internally, was actually banned at first, before becoming the icon we know today ! For some companies, Rand continued to monitor the evolution of his creations for several decades, to adjust them to changes and trends.

While many designers tend to fade out and lose touch in their later years, Rand continued to become ever more popular as the years went on — commanding a rumored $100,000 per single logo design during the 1980s and early 1990s. Among the most notable of his clients during this time was Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer.

In 1985, after resigning from the company he founded (but later returned to), Jobs went on to start NeXT Computer, in an effort to corner the educational sector with a revolutionary workstation. The field of graphic designers had grown substantially by this time but, to develop the identity of his new company, Jobs wanted one designer, and one designer only: Paul Rand.

“(Paul Rand) is one of the most professional people I’ve ever worked with,” explains Jobs in a 1993 interview. “I asked him if he would come up with a few options. He said, ‘No, I will solve the problem for you, and you will pay me. You don’t have to use the solution; if you want options, go talk to other people. But I’ll solve the problem for you.’ It was very refreshing to work with somebody like that.”

In his explanatory guide for the client, Paul Rand explained the origin of the change from Next to NeXT: it sounded too much like “Exit”. By including an “e” in lower-case, close to upper-case characters, the word gains a new rhythm and requires another form of concentration from the reader, who then reads the word as it is really written. It should be noted that even today, NeXT is still written in common text, as if it was an acronym: Rand’s concept has gone beyond graphics.

Whether by accident or through the workings of a higher being, the meeting between these two legends had a massive impact on the future of design as we know it today, and played a part in the story of one of the world’s most valuable companies, so deeply rooted in cohesive brand identity and user interactions.

Paul Rand succeeded in changing the American business landscape through his work, being a key player in this economic transition. He still is one of the few designers who signed all his creations, posters or magazine covers, as early as 1936. A way to elevate them as works of art and to display his artistic authority and creative decision-making to the client. A hell of a dare, we wish we could do the same today!

Rand was undoubtedly an pioneer, both in style and in vision. By changing others’ look upon brand identity, he shook up the whole history of graphic design. But no one should hope to reach his level by taking inspiration directly from his work, because according to his friend and colleague Louis Danziger, a graphic designer: “If you want to be as good as Rand, don’t look at what he does, look at what he looks at"