Paul Rand
America’s legendary graphic designer
Paul Rand was born August 15,1914 as Peretz Rosenbaum in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York. Educated at the Parsons School of Design (1932-1933), and the Art Students League (1933-1934). He grew up in a strict orthodox Jewish family where by Jewish law the making of image’s was prohibited. Rand started his image making at his father’s grocery store and later at his school, PS 109. His father was convinced that Peretz could not make a living with art but paid the $25.00 entrance fee for his sons high school classes at Pratt Institute, with a condition that he also attend Harren High in Manhattan. Rand was primarily self taught in Room 313 of the New York Public Library. He credits Gebrausgraphik, the German advertising magazine and Commercial Art, the British counterpart, for introducing him to A.M. Cossandre, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and the Bauhaus movement.
Rand enrolled in a drawing class at The Student League in Manhattan given by Georg Grosz. He borrowed his design style from reductive German advertising known as Sachplakat, or object poster.
In the early 1930's Rand got a part-time job doing stock graphics for a company that supplied maps, advertising spots and lettering to newspapers. Through this he was able to build a portfolio to show perspective employers. He was also convinced that being Jewish was an impediment so he shortened is first name to Paul and Rosenbaum to Rand. The first corporate identity he created was his own.