According to How to design an enduring logo: Lessons from IBM and Paul Rand, Paul Rand was a very serious and talented graphic designer. This is not surprise to me, but at the same time I did not know how much time he had put into one single project which was the IBM logo. It’s amazing how he spent ten years trying to perfect it. I kind of related a bit to him when in the video, they said that he wasn’t so convinced about the letters because they were not the same width, which i have once had trouble with when i was creating a poster. Even though the IBM stripe logo is pretty iconic, the one with the bee and eye is even more eye catching in my opinion. This is because of how playful it is compared to the other one. Some will think that because it’s so obvious and simple, that it might not have taken as long as it did, but they are wrong, because designs like these often take a lot of time and thought.
This reminded me of Paula Scher when it comes to the outcome of their work and how effective it is. The main difference would be the amount of time spent on the projects. For example, I remember from last week’s assignment, Paula Scher spent less than a minute creating the Highline logo, but it is one of the most known logos in NYC because it’s a well known tourist spot. Both designers won’t take no for an answer. For example when they asked Paula to change the logo to look like an “F”, she was apposed to it. She did not believe it would have been this popular now a day, but she did know that the “F” was not going to work, which is why she kept insisting on the “H”. Same like Paul Rand, he did not accept a no for an answer. Once he did something, that was it, it had to be that logo because he believed in it since the beginning.
Print this page
Hello Fernanda,
Your response made a really good point on how some may think because a logo is simple or straightforward and or obvious that it would be assumed easy to make.
In comparison to the Highline comment you made, Scher also said that she wrote the Citibank logo on a napkin during a meeting and walked out, because it was that good.
I also enjoyed your comparison to when Scher stood her ground with the Highline logo when they asked to see it in F form. I had forgotten. But now I relate it to when Rand blamed the company and said that it was their mistake for not communicating what they wanted correctly. Both of them stand by the designs they make.