Paul Rand was the most influential American graphic designer of the twentieth century, and Paul Rand: A Designer's Art is arguably the most important book on his work. It presents a comprehensive collection of Rand's most important and best-known designs, imparting unique insight into his design process and theory.

One of the world's leading graphic designers, Paul Rand has had a profound influence on the design profession: his pioneering work in the field of advertising design and typography has helped elevate "commercial art" to one of the fine arts. In this book, Rand awakens readers to the lessons of the cave paintings of Lascaux—that art is an intuitive, autonomous, and timeless activity—and he shows how this is conveyed in works of art from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to a painting by Cézanne, African sculpture, a Gorgan pitcher, and a park in Brooklyn, all of which are aesthetically pleasing no matter what their era, place, purpose, style, or genre. Rand defines aesthetics and the aesthetic experience, in particular as it affects the designer, and he helps members of his profession articulate and solve design problems by linking principles of aesthetics to the practice of design.

Illustrating his ideas with examples of his own graphic work, as well as an eclectic collection of masterpieces, Rand discusses such topics as: the relation between art and business; the presentation of design ideas and sketches to prospective clients; the debate over typographic style; and the aesthetics of combinatorial geometry as applied to the grid. His book will engage and enlighten anyone interested in the practice or theory of graphic design.

Paul Rand's stature as one of the world's leading graphic designers is incontestable. For half a century his pioneering work in the field of advertising design and typography has exerted a profound influence on the design profession; he almost single-handedly transformed "commercial art" from a practice that catered to the lowest common denominator of taste to one that could assert its place among the other fine arts. Among the numerous clients for whom he has been a consultant and/or designer are the American Broadcasting Company, IBM Corporation, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

In this instructive book, Rand speaks about the contemporary practice of graphic design, explaining the process and passion that foster good design and indicting fadism and trendiness. Illustrating his ideas with examples of his own graphic work as well as with the work of artists he admires, Rand discusses such topics as: the values on which aesthetic judgments are based; the part played by intuition in good design; the proper relationship between management and designers; the place of market research; how and when to use computers in the production of a design; choosing a typeface; principles of book design; and the thought processes that lead to a final design. The centerpiece of the book consists of seven design portfolios—with diagrams and ultimate choices—that Rand used to present his logos to clients such as NEXT, IDEO, and IBM.