PAUL RAND
SEPTEMBER 22, 1994
Sharon Werner and John Dufresne [Designers]
Sharon Werner and John Dufresne [Designers]: PAUL RAND, SEPTEMBER 22, 1994. Minneapolis, MN: AIGA/Minnesota. 1994. Original edition. Mailer/poster machine folded into quarters for mailing [as issued] embossed and printed in four colors recto and verso on a Potlatch Karma Bright White 100 lb textsheet. Mailing label to verso. Expected mild wear to folds, and a couple of scuffs to mailing panel, but a very good or better example of this ephemeral poster.
18 x 22-inch (45.7 x 55.8-cm) Mailer/poster announcement for a presentation, reception and book signing for Paul Rand hosted by the AIGA/Minnesota on September 22, 1994.
If the word legend has any meaning in the graphic arts and if the term legendary can be applied with accuracy to the career of any designer, it can certainly be applied to Paul Rand (1914-1996). By 1947, the legend was already firmly in place. By then Paul had completed his first career as a designer of media promotion at Esquire-Coronet --and as an outstanding cover designer for Apparel Arts and Directions. He was well along on a second career as an advertising designer at the William Weintraub agency which he had joined as art director at its founding. THOUGHTS ON DESIGN (with reproductions of almost one hundred of his designs and some of the best words yet written on graphic design) had just published -- an event that cemented his international reputation and identified him as a designer of influence from Zurich to Tokyo.
A chronology of Rand's design experience has paralleled the development of the modern design movement. Paul Rand’s first career in media promotion and cover design ran from 1937 to 1941, his second career in advertising design ran from 1941 to 1954, and his third career in corporate identification began in 1954. Paralleling these three careers there has been a consuming interest in design education and Paul Rand's fourth career as an educator started at Cooper Union in 1942. He taught at Pratt Institute in 1946 and in 1956 he accepted a post at Yale University's graduate school of design where he held the title of Professor of Graphic Design.
In 1937 Rand launched his first career at Esquire. Although he was only occasionally involved in the editorial layout of that magazine, he designed material on its behalf and turned out a spectacular series of covers for Apparel Arts, a quarterly published in conjunction with Esquire. In spite of a schedule that paid no heed to regular working hours or minimum wage scales, he managed in these crucial years to find time to design an impressive array of covers for other magazines, particularly Directions. From 1938 on his work was a regular feature of the exhibitions of the Art Directors Club.
Most contemporary designers are aware of Paul Rand's successful and compelling contributions to advertising design. What is not well known is the significant role he played in setting the pattern for future approaches to the advertising concept. Rand was probably the first of a long and distinguished line of art directors to work with and appreciate the unique talent of William Bernbach. Rand described his first meeting with Bernbach as "akin to Columbus discovering America," and went on to say, "This was my first encounter with a copywriter who understood visual ideas and who didn't come in with a yellow copy pad and a preconceived notion of what the layout should look like."
Rand spent fourteen years in advertising where he demonstrated the importance of the art director in advertising and helped break the isolation that once surrounded the art department. The final thought from THOUGHTS ON DESIGN is worth repeating: "Even if it is true that commonplace advertising and exhibitions of bad taste are indicative of the mental capacity of the man in the street, the opposing argument is equally valid. Bromidic advertising catering to that bad taste merely perpetuates that mediocrity and denies him one of the most easily accessible means of aesthetic development."
In 1954 when Paul Rand decided Madison Avenue was no longer a two-way street and he resigned from the Weintraub agency, he was cited as one of the ten best art directors by the Museum of Modern Art. The rest is design history.
László Moholy-Nagy, a pioneer typographer, photographer, and designer of the modern movement and a master at the Bauhaus in Weimar, may have come closest to defining the Rand style when he said Paul was "an idealist and a realist using the language of the poet and the businessman. He thinks in terms of need and function. He is able to analyze his problems, but his fantasy is boundless."
“Growing up in a large family in a small town in Minnesota, Sharon [Werner] used creativity as a means of escape from her siblings and as a tonic for boredom. As a kid, Sharon’s favorite pastime was cutting out paper dolls and products from the Montgomery Wards and Sears catalogs. A love of print was developed early on, with Sharon sending away for every piece of free literature anyone would send her. One glorious summer was filled with travel brochures from every part of the country, arriving daily and bursting out of the mailbox. Since then, her love of paper and print has only intensified. Sharon started her career as an intern at Duffy Design Group (now Duffy), enjoying every minute of her 7 years working there. “It was an amazing experience. I learned the essentials of creating and developing authentic brand stories that people care about, whether it was for Jim Beam, Specialized Bicycles or Fox River Paper Company.” Sharon founded Werner Design Werks in 1991, and her passion for creating brands has continued to guide work for clients that include Moet Hennessy, dpHUE, and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day. Sharon is the co-author and co-creator of a series of children’s books and products, Alphabeasties and other Amazing Types, Bugs by the Numbers, and Alphasaurs and other Prehistoric Types, published by Blue Apple. She is also the co-author of Really Good Packaging, Explained by Rockport. Sharon’s work has been recognized by nearly every major graphic design publication and award show, and is part of the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Musée De La Poste, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum, and has been selected as one of the 100 World’s Best Posters. Sharon has taught as an adjunct professor at the College of Visual Arts and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has lectured and juried with national and international design organizations and has served on the AIGA Minnesota Board, the CVA Advisory Board, the MNSU Moorhead Design Advisory Board, and the TDC Board of Directors.
“Sharon lives in the woods near St. Paul with her husband, Chuck, her son, Ernest, and the 14 white-tailed deer that wander outside the house (and which she secretly feeds).”— Werner Design Werks
The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, branding and identity. The organization's aim is to be the standard bearer for professional ethics and practices for the design profession. There are currently over 22,000 members and 73 chapters, and more than 200 student groups around the United States.
In 1911, Frederic Goudy, Alfred Stieglitz, and W. A. Dwiggins came together to discuss the creation of an organization that was committed to individuals passionate about communication design. In 1913, president of the National Arts Club, John G. Agar, announced the formation of The American Institute of Graphic Arts during the eighth annual exhibition of “The Books of the Year.” The National Arts Club was instrumental in the formation of AIGA in that they helped to form the committee to plan to organize the organization. The committee formed included Charles DeKay and William B. Howland and officially formed the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914. Howland, publisher and editor of The Outlook, was elected president. The goal of the group was to promote excellence in the graphic design profession through its network of local chapters throughout the country.
In 1920, AIGA began awarding medals to "individuals who have set standards of excellence over a lifetime of work or have made individual contributions to innovation within the practice of design." Winners have been recognized for design, teaching, writing or leadership of the profession and may honor individuals posthumously.
In 1982, the New York Chapter was formed and the organization began creating local chapters to decentralize leadership.