The Logo and Poster design of Paul Rand in the 1980's and 1990's (VERSION 2)

Fig1, Paul Rand URL

Paul Rand, one of the most influential graphic designers of our time (fig 1). He started of by self teaching himself, learning from magazines, and taking night classes at different institutes (Heller, 1999, pg). His work has influenced corporate designs, book design, magazines design, poster design, and graphic design overall (Eskilson, 2007, 240). Rand was known for his modern approach to design and Swiss style (Eskilson, 2007, 240).

Paul Rand was famous for his logo designs and logo language that he has interpreted. According to Rand for the logo to work effectively it should be memorable, clear, distinctive, makes a statement, provides the joy of discovery and the pleasure of participating (Paul Rand,1993, 111). In addition to that he also said that whether the logo will work or not depends on how big the company is, how exposed the logo is and how well it's used (Paul Rand,1993, 111).


Fig 2. International Business Machines (IBM), 8-bar variation 1972, URL


Fig 3. International Business Machines (IBM), 13-bar variation 1967, URL


Fig 4. International Business Machines (IBM), 1956 , URL

The IBM logo was one his most famous logotype that he designed by the 1960's and went into further modification throughout the years (fig 2,3,4)(Heller, 1999, 154). Rand based the logo on only on serif 3 letter typeface in which at the beginning it was only the type itself and then later on broken down into 13 line and then 8 line logo of the same type (Paul Rand, 1993, 121). Rand added split the logo into lines to make the logo lighter in the visual sense and more applicable on different mediums (eskilson, 2007, 326). The IBM logo does not explain the business it incorporates except for the viewer reads into it but yet when the viewer see's the logo they immediately associate it with computer company (Paul Rand,1993, 80).


Fig.5 IBM ,Golden Circle ,1981, URL


Fig.6,IBM, Customer Support Center, 1980, URL.


Fig 7. , Eye-Bee-M (IBM), Golden Circle Award announcement ,1981, URL.

Rand also created numerous posters for the same company IBM advertising inside events, motivational posters, advertising the company itself etc… (Heller, 1999, 157). One of his most memorable posters was the phonetic-visual key I (eye) B (bee) M (for the letter m); This poster was an announcement for an in house event that occurred in 1981(fig.5)(Heller, 1999, 157).


Fig 8. Paul Rand, Art Director's Club exhibit, 1988, URL




Fig 9. Paul Rand, Tokyo Communication Arts, 1990, URL


Notably through Rand’s posters and work there is a lot of abstraction as presented in the IBM Customer Support Center (Fig 7), the Art Director's Club exhibit (fig 8) and the Tokyo Communication Arts (fig 9). The use of abstraction, cutouts, and different contrasting colors is similar to one of Henri Matisse’s work “The Snail 1953” (fig 10)(tate website). The cutouts that they both used lead the viewer’s eye from one place on the page to the next giving more interest and making the viewer interact with the work (tate website). Rand and Matisse agree on the fact that abstraction gives the total meaning of an art work (eskilson, 2007, 325, tate website).



Fig 10. Henri Mattise ,The Snail 1953, URL


By the late 1980’s Steve Jobs hired Rand to design a computer logo called “Next” (Paul Rand, 1999, 194). It’s the most expensive logotype in history for a computer that was too advanced for the market (Polano, 2003, pg). Rand used the cube because it symbolizes the product itself (Heller,1999, 195). The typeface has 3 uppercases and 1 lower case “e” to add more contrast, interest, and because the word next is very similar to the word exit and having it all uppercase can make one confused and misinterpret the meaning (Heller,1999,196)(Paul Rand, 1993, 83).



Paul Rand, NeXT Computers, 1986, URL


Paul Rand was and still is one of the most inspiring graphic designers of this time and the time to come. He has contributed into the design field giving guidelines to all future graphic designers to innovate and be creative. Rand was able to keep his work more simple and to the point where less is more and made it to the top creating all different kinds of design work to many big companies that still use his logo’s and ideas. Every graphic designer strives to follow Rand’s footsteps for he is both a model and a master.








Bibliography

Eskilson, S. (2007). Graphic Design A New History. North America: Yale University Press.

Heller, S. (1999). Paul Rand. New York: Phaidon Press.

Rand, P. (1996). From Lascaux to Brooklyn. New Haven & London: Yale University.

Rand, P. (1993). Design Form and Chaos. New Haven & London: Yale University.

Polano, S. (2003). abc: of the 20th-century graphics. Milano: Phaidon Press.
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=9396