So I am currently reading Steve Jobs, the authorized biography written by Walter Isaacson. A small paragraph really stuck out to me. It was the discussion between Steve Jobs and Paul Rand on the NeXT logo. Paul Rand is an American graphic designer that created logos for IBM, UPS, Enron and ABC.
Chapter 18
Page 219
"Rand flew out to Palo Alto and spent time walking with Jobs and listening to his vision. The computer would be a cube, Jobs pronounced. He loved that shape. It was perfect and simple. So Rand decided that the logo should be a cube as well, one that was tilted at a 28 degree angle. When Jobs asked for a number of options to consider, Rand declared that he did not create different options for clients. "I will solve your problem, and you will pay me," he told Jobs. " You can use what I produce, or not, but I will not do options, and either way you will pay me."
Jobs admired that kind of thinking, so he made what was quite a gamble. The company would pay an astonishing $100,000 flat fee to get one design."
Here is an interview where Steve Jobs discusses working with Paul Rand. Video Link
Now I do not want to discredit Paul Rand's work, but it is interesting to consider that if Paul Rand were born today, would he still be a famous graphic designer or get lost in the masses? In my opinion, Paul Rands work looks dated, and did not hold up well with time. And after looking at some of his creations such as the NeXT logo, I can't help but think if I ever turned that in for a class assignment I would get an F. So is Paul Rand really that great or did he just get lucky and was born before graphic design became popular or did graphic design become popular because of people like Paul Rand?
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