Paul Rand (1914 – 1996), even though passed, is still one of the most renound graphic designers in the world.
Rand spent many years teaching design as well as practicing it. His most widely known contributions to graphic design are his corporate identities, some of which include IBM, ABC, Enron, Next and UPS.
He was also one of the originators of Swiss Style of graphic design.
Here are some famous quotes from Rand :
Good design adds value of some kind, gives meaning, and, not incidentally, can be sheer pleasure to behold; it respects the viewer’s sensibilities and rewards the entrepreneur.
— Design Form and Chaos
Even if it is true that the average man seems most comfortable with the commonplace and familiar, it is equally true that catering to bad taste, which we so readily attribute to the average reader, merely perpetuates that mediocrity and denies the reader one of the most easily accessible means for aesthetic development and eventual enjoyment.
— Thoughts on Design
The roots of good design lie in aesthetics: painting, drawing, and architecture, while those of business and market research are in demographics and statistics; aesthetics and business are traditionally incompatible disciplines.
— Design Form and Chaos
Without play, there would be no Picasso. Without play, there is no experimentation. Experimentation is the quest for answers.
— Graphic Wit “Paul Rand: The Play Instinct” 1991
I steered towards humorous things. People who don’t have a sense of humor really have serious problems.
—Interview with Steven Heller 1988
I like things that are playful; I like things that are happy; I like things that will make the client smile.
— Lecture, A Paul Rand Retrospective, Cooper Union, Oct. 3, 1996
Innovation leads one to see the new in the old and distinguishes the ingenious from the ingenuous.
— Design Form and Chaos
For more quotes from this iconic designer, visit the Paul Rand website.
