If you want to know what good logo design is, think about the logos that stand out today that have really stood the test of time. What is most memorable to us? Some, while seemingly very simplistic, are still very widely known, and recreated everywhere. Who are the creative minds behind these logos? What inspired them? Let’s take a look at some of the most memorable logos and the designers who created them. Every month we will feature another renowned, groundbreaking designer whose work has enhanced the brand it represents.
We can’t talk about famous logos, or logo designers without talking about Paul Rand. Rand was one of the most influential graphic designers of the 20th century. What do we know him for? How about IBM, ABC, Enron, UPS, just to name a few. Paul Rand was one of the originators of the “Swiss Style” of graphic design, and probably one of the best corporate logo designers we have ever seen. By introducing a critical element into commercial art; form he was able to incorporate ads with words and pictures, that boldly stood out. With Rands’s insight and influence, some of our nation’s biggest corporations were convinced that good design was good business.
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Educated at the Pratt Institute in New York City, Rand started his career working for Apparel Arts and Esquire magazines and then later joined the Weintraub agency. He was so successful at his craft, that he realized he was worth more than he was being paid! He subsequently demanded double the pay for half the time… and guess what? He got it!
The rest is history. Some of Rands’s quotes really encompass his approach and understanding of what a good logo is, and what it can do. Here are some of our favorites:
– Paul Rand
“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.”
“A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies.”
“I do not use humor consciously, I just go that way naturally. A well-known example is my identity for United Parcels Service: to take an escutcheon – a medieval symbol which inevitably seems pompous today – and then stick a package on top of it, that is funny.”
“Should a logo be self-explanatory? It is only by association with a product, a service, a business, or a corporation that a logo takes on any real meaning. It derives its meaning and usefulness from the quality of that which it symbolizes. If a company is second-rate, the logo will eventually be perceived as second-rate. It is foolhardy to believe that a logo will do its job immediately before an audience has been properly conditioned.”
“The only mandate in logo design is that they are distinctive, memorable, and clear.”
“How to present a new idea is, perhaps, one of the designer’s most difficult tasks. Everything a designer does involves presentation of some kind–not only how to explain (present) a particular design to an interested listener (client, reader, spectator), but how the design may explain itself in the marketplace…”
Paul Rand
You can just imagine with his expertise, and reputation, Rand was the go-to guy for Steve Jobs, when Jobs launched the “Next” Computer. There was a lot at stake for Jobs, having been booted out of Apple, however, one thing Jobs was sure about was that his logo would have to come from Rand, who was 72 at the time. Rand continued to work until his death at the age of 82.
Among his many accomplishments were: a book he published called “Thoughts on Design”, which remains very influential today. Rand was also inducted into the New York Art Directors Club hall of fame, as well as a teacher of design at Yale University.