Cultural Studies, Stage 2: April 2010

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Paul Rand (fig1) was an American, self-taught and highly prominent graphic designer in the fields of logo design, corporate identities, packaging, book and advertising. His contributions in Graphic Design witnessed success on all levels, but my essay is going to deal with the packaging and advertising aspect of it.

Rand’s advertising was clever, eye-catching, pleasing and fun all at once. He was a modernist that incorporated International Swiss style in his work, and although he was influenced by modern European art movements, Rand always maintained a unique and special style of his own. (Eskilson, 2007, P. 323; Heller, 1999, P. 158)

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In his advertisement for Dubonnet (fig 2), Rand used a figure French artist Cassandre
created a decade before and Americanized it. Rand did not change any of the figure characteristics but only added seasonal outfits and environmental surroundings to it, giving the advertisement a stylized cubist look. (Heller, 1999, PP. 44, 6)

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Another one of his clever advertising designs was the El Producto series (fig 3). Paul in the series sought to personalize the product and make it advertise itself. He did that by adding a hat and a pair of hands to the cigar’s photo montage, an environment and some catchy phrases. He strived to make the advertisement fun and unconventional and succeeded.

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The RCA advertisement (fig4) was an award winning advertisement that received a gold medal from the Art Directors Club. The advertisement was designed using Morse code symbols or glyphs in an attempt to catch the RCA chairman’s attention who was a General that knew Morse code. (Heller, 1999, P. 83)

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Paul Rand’s packaging work was no less clever than his advertising. In the packaging he did for Westinghouse (fig 5), Rand used diagonal placement of the type –that told consumers the wattage of the bulb- with the corporate logo placed horizontally. This helped create harmony in the design and add functionality to it. While the complementary orange and blue added a decorative touch to the design (Eskilson, 2007, P. 326)

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Paul Rand also created packaging for IBM (fig 6) throughout the period from the late 50’s to the 90’s. The first packaging series featured the IBM logo that was tilted at 37 degrees and so was the accompanying text which asserted the corporate identity and at the same time served as a decorative element that grabbed attention.

In the other series, the multi-coloured stripes make the design memorable and give it a feel of modernity. The stripes also reduced factor of formality in the design and made it look accessible and friendly to the public. (Rand, 1993, PP. 128, 132; Heller, 1999, P. 159)

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However, Paul Rand’s packaging wasn’t always two dimensional. In 1942 he designed an elegant and modern looking gift bottle for Coronet Brandy (fig 7). (Heller, 1999, P. 41)

Rand’s work was revolutionary and highly influential and even after he died, his work lived on. He Bridged European modern art with American commercial art by integrating one into the other. Furthermore, he made it possible for those who came after him to use a new design language of practical tools. For that the commercial and graphic arts today owe so much to his contributions.

Bibliography:

Eskilson, S. (2007). Graphic Design A New History. North America: Yale University Press.
Heller, S. (1999). Paul Rand. New York: Phaidon Press.
Heller, S. and Pettit, E. (1998). Design Dialogues. New York: Allworth Communications, Inc.
Rand, P. (1993). Design Form and Chaos. New Haven & London: Yale University.