Paul Rand, born in Brooklyn in 1914 as Peretz Rosenbaum, was a highly influential and prolific cover, advertisement and corporate identity designer most active in the late thirties through the early fifties. He designed logos for many companies including ABC, IBM, Enron, UPS, and Morningstar, Inc. He also played a role in the development of design theory and philosophy, writing several books on the subject including, most famously, A Designer's Art. He attended the Pratt Institute and the Art Students League and in 1972 he was inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame.
Paul Rand had a very simple style. But, though his logo designs were often very basic—to the point that some drew criticism for being simplistic—and though function always fueled his work, Rand employed a playful approach to design. Because of this, many of his logos had a humor to them, such as the UPS logo, which places a parcel on top of an escutcheon, circumventing the loftiness of the medieval signage with a lighthearted twist. Seemingly contrarily, he said that he did not believe simplicity to be a goal of design, but rather merely a result of "a good idea and modest expectations."
Sources:
1. "Paul Rand | American Icons." Area of Design. http://www.areaofdesign.com/americanicons/rand.htm
2. "Paul Rand." Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_rand
3. "All about designer Paul Rand." Logo Design Love. http://www.logodesignlove.com/all-about-paul-rand
