The great Paul Rand (1914 – 1996), an American graphic designer best known for his corporate identity and collateral design. Along with my previous post about Saul Bass, Rand developed some of the greatest identities of the 1900s, most of which are still in use today. Shown above are:
1. American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): 1962
2. IBM: 1972
3. United Parcel Service (UPS): 1961
4. Ford Motor Company (unused): 1966
5. Westinghouse: 1960
6. Yale University Press: 1985
7. Consolidated Cigar Corporation: 1959
8. Atlas Crankshaft Corporation: 1964
It is a huge shame that the Ford logo shown above went unused. Developed in 1966 it perfectly captures the forward-thinking nature of technology at the time while maintaining the Ford brand. Check out Rand’s extensive portfolio gallery at Paul-Rand.com.
15 Comments
wow, I love the Ford logo! They should adopt it nowadays and just make it all shiny looking. Very cool.
Nice post as always, James!
Would you please consider compiling a collection of avian themed logo designs?
Here are some starters:
1. http://www.ivt.se/images/debatt/svanen_PMS_347_vitbak.jpg (I love this one!)
2. http://www.theanswerline.com/graphics/ManufacturerImages/Crane-Logo300x30012.jpg
What an incredible body of work that guy put out. Goes to show even the greats are passed over on their work (there’s hope for me yet).
Airlines have always played with the avian theme.
http://www.airlinelogos.net
http://www.paul-rand.com/assets/gallery/posters/ucla_fall_1994.jpg
One of my favorite Rand posters.
He had such a fanstasic almost collage style of rough child-like cut outs in his earlier works as well which were very interesting.
I still get sad when i see the UPS truck drive by with that new “adaptation” of Rand’s logo.
Hi, I found your blog on this new directory of WordPress Blogs at blackhatbootcamp.com/listofwordpressblogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, i duno. Anyways, I just clicked it and here I am. Your blog looks good. Have a nice day. James.
The fact that the ABC logo has -remained- unchanged since 1962 speaks for itself. Especially when you think how a television network struggles with visual representation on a seasonal basis.
That Ford logo is awesome! Anyone know what it was used for?
Fantastic logos! I also think it’s a shame the UPS logo was updated, and the funny thing is if you put the old and new versions together it’s the new one that looks more dated – Good design never dates!
hi, could you help me??? i need to know who made the battletoads logo, and who gibson logo (guitars)… thanks… guillermo (uruguay)
guiga2@hotmail.com
what is the type font of the CCC logo?
tks
hello! Can I ask what theme are you using in your blog? thanks!