Introduction
Paul Rand was a revered graphic designer who is well known for his creative work in the field of graphic design. The artist is best known for his innovative corporate designs that he has done for various corporations over the years. His career began in the 1930’s and proceeded into his old age (Airey, 2015). His interest in art started at a tender age, and even though he did not start of in an art school, he pursued his passion to become one of the biggest graphic designers of his time. His creations were in line with the popular culture which emerged in the 1960’s. Europe had already embraced graphic art design, and it is from their practice that Rand found his inspirations and brought these inspirations into good use in America. Paul Rand is one of the greatest artists to have lived in history, who pioneered and revolutionized the graphic design industry with his numerous books, covers, logos and advertisements which are still used by corporations and displayed in museums to date.
Context
The artist played a major role in communicating with the use of visual messages. The work of the artist is featured in over 150 designs all over the world today (Museum of the City of New York, 2015). His work includes advertisements for various corporations, brochures, posters and books on the masterly the practice of graphic design. His work greatly influenced the great art movements such as the constructivism and the Avant-garde designs. His career in graphic design started in the year in the 1930’s, and he started with graphic designs for magazines which mostly included covers of various magazines. He has worked for big multi-million dollar companies such as the IBM, UPS, and ABC and also worked with great leaders of our time such Steve Jobs and his company NEXT (Museum of the City of New York, 2015). His masterly for visual communication are in use to date with his various logos still used today 20 years after his demise. The great artist has also inspired many other graphic designers in class where he taught at the Yale University and his books which are still available for most students to date.
Analysis of his work
One of his most remarkable achievements is the creation of logos. One of his logos was used by the legendary leader Steve Jobs when he launched the company NEXT . Next was a new computer company which was expected to compete and win against well-established companies such as Apple. In the years following the World War II in America the graphic designer spent most of his time defined the American visual art. Paul Rand is the man behind the new form of advertising, and he brought a new concept and perspective into the concept of selling. He convinced major corporations and designers in the world that good design was the key to good business and assisted most corporations swing out of the great depression era . The Museum of New York has over 100 collections of Rand work on display. These collections range from magazine covers, logos, advertisements and book covers among others. He brought the concept that graphic design should not only be beautiful, but it should also be functional.
Amongst his first jobs is the laying of spreads for various art designs for various art designs for a magazine design which involved itself with men's design. It is from these magazine covers that his work become recognized, and he started receiving more attention for others who sought his services. In his early 20’s he was recognized as one of the exemplary graphic designers of his time. His inspiration was derived from the European countries and brought to use in America. At the age of 27 years, Rand was named the director of the William H. Weintraub American advertising agency. At the time, Europe was already involved in broad graphic work. He transformed his words and pictures into symbols which could be used as logos and to convey certain messages to the audience. His work involved the use of firm and bold colors. Rand brought a new perspective into the world of advertising (Airey, 2015). Apart from his numerous adverts, Rand has also written a number of books on advertising and design. He was featured in magazines which praised his mastery of the subject. The New York Times wrote of the exemplary advertising director in the year 1953. He became the new ad man and was revered for his ability to intermarry both art and commerce to propel selling .
Work by Paul Rand
Some of his greatest works were performed at the IBM Corporation. He prepared a design system for the corporation and taught other designers in the company to adhere to his system. Among his responsibilities included working on the showrooms, packaging and the interior designs of the offices. He was known for his preference for bright colors such as blue and pink which made the environment more personable to those in it. In 1962, Rand came up with the slated IBM logo which is still in use to date . He had been working on the logo for a couple of years and in the logo, he used horizontal stripes to unify the letters in the logo and aesthetics which brought a visual rhythm to the logo. He was also able to make the name feel lighter, which is what the multinational corporation needed. Another one of his great works is the logo he designed for Steve Jobs new company which was meant to compete with other well-established companies such as Apple. Through his mastery of the graphic design he for the identity project. The logo for the company incorporates harmony into the logo. Other logos by Paul Rand include the logo for Westinghouse, UPS, ABC and Apple (Stein, 2015). The value of the business is demonstrated with the use of identity systems. Each of his logos was accompanied by a book which explained how he came about the design of the logo.
Paul Rand also came up with the IBM poster for the campaign to incorporate the think theme. The poster which read Eye-Bee-M was widely used to market its ideas. After his passing, the IBM Company has continued to use his ideas and policies over the years. The vocabulary message is clearly showed in his numerous designs. Due to his success, Rand was able to ask for double the pay at half the time and was granted willingly. The logo for Steve Jobs NEXT cost him a 100,000 USD (Famous Graphic Designer, 2016). Rand also wrote numerous books on design as well as those who accompanied each of his designs explaining how he came about the logo. Though he is well recognized for his logos, the magazine art designs for magazines such as Apparel Arts were the ones responsible for selling him. His books include Design, Thoughts on Design, Form and Chaos, and the Play Instinct.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Paul Rand was a great graphic designer of his time who was able to merge commerce and art to come up with functional visual arts which were used in both branding and advertising. Although the artist is well known for his numerous logos designed for major corporations in the world, his talent and career began designing cover pages for magazines. It is from here that he become famous and eventually become the target of every major corporation which understood the true value of advertising. Other works by Paul Rand include teaching at the tale university, and the numerous books and memoirs he has written on graphic design. Paul rand changed the meaning of advertising and used art to increase sales for major businesses. Paul Rand is a legendary whose contribution in the field of graphic design is felt 20 years after his demise.
References
Airey, D. (2015, March 23). Everything is Design The Work of Paul Rand . Retrieved from Logo Design Love: http://www.logodesignlove.com/everything-is-design-the-work-of-paul-rand
Famous Graphic Designer . (2016). Paul Rand. Retrieved from Famous Graphic Designers: http://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/paul-rand
Kroeger, M. (2013). Paul rand : conversations with students. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Museum of the city of New York. (2015, October 13). Everything is design; The Work of Paul Rand . Retrieved from Museum of New York City: http://www.mcny.org/exhibition/everything-design
Rand, P., & Bierut, M. (2014). Thoughts on design. Calif. : , 2014: Chronicle Books LLC.
Stein, A. (2015, February 27). Everything is Design: The Work of Paul Rand review – short survey of a master. The Gurdian.
