Paul Rand: A conversation with students
African Digital Art Recommended Reading
Author: Michael Kroeger
Description
As one of the most influential and inspirational graphic designers of the twentieth century, Paul Rand defined modern American graphic design. His iconic logo designs for IBM, UPS, and the ABC television network distilled the essences of modernity for his corporate patrons. His body of work includes advertising, poster, magazine, and book designs characterized by simplicity and a wit uniquely his own. His ability to discuss design with insight and humor made him one of the most revered design educators of our time. This latest volume of the popular Conversations with Students series presents Rand’s last interview, recorded at Arizona State University one year before his death in 1996. Beginners and seasoned design professionals alike will be informed by Rand’s words and thoughts on varied topics ranging from design philosophy to design education.
The Designer’s Review of Books
What would Paul Rand have been like as a teacher? He was renowned for his stinging critiques ornery manner, yet in Paul Rand: Conversations with Students (Amazon: US|CA|UK|DE) Philip Burton chooses the word ‘compassionate’ to describe him. It seems that almost all of Rand’s students have praise for his brutal honesty and integrity. As painful as it might have been to receive those lessons at the time, they came from Rand’s heartfelt desire to pass on what he had learned in the clearest way possible.
This slim, 80-page book is part of a series in which Rand is the only graphic designer (the others are architects) and is the kind of book you can read on a short journey. The text comprises two transcriptions of Rand’s talks at Arizona State University in 1995 along with recollections from some of the students and faculty members. This is spaced apart by full-page quotes and photographs of the work Rand is discussing or photographs of him in action.
