Paul Rand (born Peretz Rosenbaum, on August 15, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York) was one of the most renowned American graphic designer, famous for his brilliant corporate logo designs, including the logos for Steve Jobs’ NeXT, ABC, Westinghouse, Enron, UPS, and IBM. He is construed within the design circles as being one of the pioneers of the Swiss Style of graphic design. Apart from being a great designer, Rand was an excellent salesman who labored day in and day out to make business owners realize the importance of design as an indispensable business tool by saying that “A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies.” While critics sometimes interpreted his designs as being simple, he answered them saying, “Ideas do not need to be esoteric to be original or exciting.”
Created in 1960, his Westinghouse trademark proves Rand’s remarks that a logo "cannot survive unless it is designed with the utmost simplicity and restraint,” thus epitomizing his ideal of minimalism. Rand rapidly amassed a stellar reputation in his prodigious twenties which instead of dissipating, only managed to soar higher through the years as his writings and influential works garnered him the status of being the éminence grise of his profession. Age couldn’t steal the limelight from him, since he continued to procure influential corporate identities into the eighties and nineties, some designs rumored to be priced as high up as $100,000.
Related: Quotes To Nurture Your Creative Soul
Indubitably, Rand’s lasting influence and the core ideology that drove his career, was the modernist philosophy he revered growing up. He celebrated the works of artists from Jan Tschichold to Paul Cezanne, and continually aspired to build the connection between their creative output and its applications in graphic design.
We have accumulated some excellent Paul Rand quotes uttered over the years that businesses could use as food for thought and be smart enough to keep in mind when designing their logos. Here is a collection of Paul Rand’s best quotes to nurture your creative soul.
