{"id":40662,"date":"2019-10-03T10:58:07","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T08:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com\/?p=40662"},"modified":"2022-09-22T09:57:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T07:57:24","slug":"paul-rand-everything-is-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com\/en\/history-of-graphic-design\/paul-rand-everything-is-design","title":{"rendered":"Paul Rand, everything is design!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the series of articles by the big names in graphic design<\/a>, here is Paul Rand<\/strong>'s portrait. While in New York for the Brand New Conference<\/a> in 2015, we took the opportunity to visit the exhibition dedicated to his work, and rediscover the work of the designer who will change the face of the United States, and whose influence is still felt today, starting with ourselves at Graph\u00e9ine. We love Paul Rand. We hope you will like it too!<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a>Photo by\u00a0Sally Andersen-Bruce<\/a> for Champion International.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything is design!<\/h2>\n

Born Peretz Rosenbaum in 1914 and deceased in 1996, Paul Rand is a graphic design legend<\/strong>. Throughout his 60-years long career, he changed America's opinion on visual communication. 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. His colourful combinations, approach of typography and use of media translate his desire to \"defamiliarize the ordinary<\/strong>\". His style consequently still have an impact on graphic design today.<\/p>\n

Rand first made his mark in the 1930s with a bold and modernist style, designing magazine and book covers a few years later. 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<\/strong>, through the simplicity and geometry of its forms. He thus said: \"one quickly realizes that simplicity and geometry are the language of timelessness and universality<\/strong>\".<\/p>\n

After the war, from 1955 onwards, he distinguished himself with progressive graphic identities that served companies' interests. As an artistic director, he helped to transform the advertising industry by emphasizing the importance of graphic design and visuals over writing. He produced logos for large companies such as IBM, ABC, UPS<\/strong>, or Steve Jobs' NeXT<\/strong>, still legendary and almost unchanged to this day (except UPS).<\/p>\n

By creating complete brand identities, Paul Rand transformed corporate communication in North America. According to his colleague Lou Danziger, he managed to persuade companies, almost on his own, that design can be a powerful business tool. As an author, teacher and designer, Rand confirmed the idea that good design is good business<\/strong> as Thomas J. Watson Jr., IBM's CEO, stated. Paul Rand invites his clients, students and ourselves to look at the world with a fresh eye, because: \"everything is design! \u00bb<\/p>\n

\"tout<\/b><\/h2>\n

Poet and businessman<\/b><\/h2>\n

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.
\nDuring 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<\/strong> - a name that since became iconic, foreshadowing his genius in brand identity.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait-paul-rand\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In his magazine covers, since the late 1930s, Rand adopted both European modernism and American spirit and functionalism in his graphic style. His distinctive signature was praised by L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Moholy-Nagy, a master of the Bauhaus<\/a> 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<\/strong>.\" 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.<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n