4 Ingenious Creations by the Great Paul Rand

Peretz Rosenbaum was born in Brooklyn, New York in an orthodox Jewish family. Developing an interest since an early age he went on study at New York’s Pratt Institute before starting his career making illustrations for newspapers, magazines and advertisements. Around this time he changed his name to Paul Rand, and the rest is history.

Paul Rand is one of the most celebrated designers of the 20th century. His ‘Everything is Design’ mantra led to revolutionary changes in the communication industry and made a huge impact in advertising and brand identity.

Paul Rand believed that art has the power to transcend boundaries. It might be difficult to communicate with someone if they do not speak your language, but you can still put your point across using signs, symbols, forms, shapes, geometry and simplicity.

Simplicity was the other important mantra of Paul Rand. Being a modernist American, he was a big fan of minimalism as well as abstraction. His creations bear testament to his genius and his brand identity designs can inspire awe in young designers even today. Let’s have a look at some of his creations that we love the most.

This ad for Jacqueline Cochran is one of the best examples of art and copy coming together seamlessly. Before Paul Rand ads used to be illustrations that depicted what was written in the text. He challenged the status quo, changed the game and went on to become the Chief Art Director in an ad agency at the age of 27.

By far one of the most iconic creations that has stuck in people’s minds even today. Created to be global and immediately recognizable, this logo was modern, bright, and came to life on ads, stationary and signage.

When approached by Steve Jobs to create a logo for his new venture Next, the only thing Paul Rand knew about the product was this – It’s a computer that’s cubical in shape and black in colour. This is what he came up with.

One of the very few Paul Rand designs that was never used. He created this logo for Ford in 1966 when Henry Ford II wanted to revamp the brand’s identity. He eventually decided against changing the existing logo but the proposed design still managed to become iconic.

“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.” – Paul Rand

Disclaimer: All images sourced from the internet and used only for inspiration. Copyrights for the images belong to their respective owners.