Paul Rand — Blog — The Disciples Of Design

Unsure how we’ve not shared this before, but this website dedicated to Paul Rand, his work, his writings and more is a mine of information – and inspiration – for any designer, at any point in their career.

Paul Rand was an American art director and graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, and NeXT. He was one of the first American commercial artists to embrace and practice the Swiss Style of graphic design.

His work can be searched by category, or by client. This includes the heralded (but never implemented) identity designed for Ford. Another personal is the identity designed for Yale University, shown below along with some others from his greatest hits. But these merely scratch the surface, so delve in when you have time. There is a lifetime to be learned from the Modernist Master.

For those of you who know Paul Rand, an exhibition catalogue for an auction sale of some of his work, belongings and prints has been put up online. And for those lucky enough, there's an opportunity to own a piece of design history. Take some time to have a look through the collection, when seen as a whole it's awe inspiring.

If you don't know of Paul Rand then you're a newcomer, but he is one of the absolute masters of design. The auction catalogue features his work, but also things that inspired him. It is so important to remember that we should look to take inspiration from the world outside of design, not just repeat what we already know.