A Tribute to Paul Rand

Paul Rand (1914-1996) is a graphic design legend in my book and I don’t think many studios or agencies will be here today if not for him.

He studied at the Pratt Institute and Arts League and was one of the originators of the Swiss Style of graphic design. In my opinion he took the best features of what was coming out of the Bauhus and other places in Europe and called it his – making it very “American”, fun and Rand-like.

He started off his early career designing stock images and quickly building a portfolio of work he art directed Direction Magazine. As a well versed designer, advertiser, illustrator, artist and industrial designer, Rand is mostly noted are his corporate identity work, IBM, Ford, ABC and UPS were some of his largest clients. Practically working as a freelancer, Rand single handedly raised the value of designers with his identity work, giving graphic value to these companies who’s logos has been relatively untouched- some for over 25 years – paving the way for other great designers, studios and students to go out in the world and make a living doing what we love to do.

Thank you Paul Rand for all you’ve done.