Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art
Considered by many the master of modernism, Paul Rand was one the most influence American art directors and graphic designers of history.
In the first half of the 20th century, New York was recognized as one of the most progressive and modern cities in the world, a pioneer in the field of arts, became a cultural incubator for several creative designers and artists. Being able to claim that graphic design gained another reputation in the second half of the 20th century, New York became the cultural center of the world, with a new modern and original approach to design, Americans proclaimed an egalitarian society defending capitalist values. American society was influenced by the opening of artistic schools like the New York school that recognized artists from the most diverse areas.
The spirit of modern society and open to new ideas, contrasts with an increasingly competitive and industrialized society. In the mid-1950s, designers were in high demand in the publishing and public fields, an excellent example was Paul Rand, a student at the New York school, considered by many to be an important figure in creative and artistic direction. Rand started his career as a graphic designer at the age of 23 by collaborating with magazines such as Esquire, Apparel Arts, Glass Packere and Coronet. Being a design avant-garde for his time, he broke with American editorial convictions, standing out for the covers of magazines in which he collaborated was influenced by artists such as Kandinsky and Klee.
Paul Rand demonstrated a strong modernist knowledge in his works, which allowed him to easily perceive that the free lines and shapes could be somewhat contained in his symbolic and visual expression. He used art as a communication tool, his way of manipulating the visual form made him an illustrious figure in graphic art. A forerunner in his profession, Rand applied his artistic approach to works with the collaboration of copywriter Bill Bernabach, for the advertising agency Weintraub.
Paul Rand continued to collaborate on several editorial and advertising works throughout his career, being considered as one of the most creative designers of his generation, he took the position of design consultant at companies such as ABC, UPS and IBM. In an era where creative direction and art direction was somewhat unknown, Rand was a pioneer in this area, developing an innovative approach to advertising, integrating text in the graphic field, with visual metaphors that were unusual in the world of Advertising.
