Logo Design Lesson#1Paul Rand 10 Important Logo Commandments
Paul Rand, the American Art Director, and graphic designer has made some of the most famous logos for corporate America, including IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, and NeXT (Steve Jobs’ project).
The Story Goes:
In 1961, Paul Rand, was hired to change UPS’s visual identity. Once he was done with his designs, he walked into the UPS head office and presented them with (just) one design option. When the UPS people asked if he had anything else, he replied, That’s it.”
In 1993, Steve Jobs hired him to make a logo for NeXT computers. Steve Jobs reportedly asked Paul if he wound up with a few options. And Paul replied,
“No, I will solve your problem for you and you will pay me. You don’t have to use the solution. If you want options, go talk to other people.”
FYI,Paul Rand,, then 72, billed Steve Jobs $100,000 for the NeXT design.
The UPS logo remained unchanged until 2003.
Paul Rand’s 10 Most Important Logo Commandments:
1. The only mandate in logo design is that they be distinctive, memorable and clear.
2. A logo is an instrument of pride and should be shown at its best. If in the business of communications, “Image is King”, the essence of this image, the logo, is the jewel in its crown.
3.A logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign.
4.A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies.
5. A logo is rarely a description of a business.
6. A logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around.
7. A logo is less important than the product it signifies what it represents is more important than what it looks like.
8. The subject matter of a logo can be almost anything.
9. The Principal role of a Logo is to Identify, and simplicity is its means.
‘A logo Design that is ‘complex, fussy, or obscure harbors a self-destructive mechanism’. No amount of literal illustration will do what most people imagine it will do. This will only make identification more difficult and the “Message” more obscure.’
‘A logo, primarily, says who, not what, and that is its function.’
10.For Logo Designers NetMaxims
The act of presenting a design to a client is very important. For every logo design, a logo designer must tell a unique story that is tailored to the client.
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