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PAUL RAND (1914-1996)
183 • IBM. 1982.
35x23 inches, 91x60 cm.
Condition A- / B+: minor abrasions at edges; scratches in image. Paper. Hand-signed and inscribed by the
artist.
Rand was first employed by IBM in 1956 to redesign the company’s logo. He continued consulting
for the company for more than thirty years, redesigning their logo at least twice more. In 1981, to
announce the in-house IBM Golden Circle award, he designed a rebus version of the company’s logo.
It was initially shunned by IBM management who “thought that it would be an invitation to in-house
designers to engage in tomfoolery. They also claimed it was not IBM and failed to recognize that in
one fell swoop Rand had humanized the corporation” (Rand, p. 156). It took a year for the company
to actually use the design in promotion, at which point they printed it as a poster with small text at
the bottom explaining the significance of each element of the rebus. It has become one of the most
famous and recognizable corporate identity statements of the 20th century. MOMA 520.1983, Mod-
ern Poster 211, Encyclopedie de l’Affiche p. 106, Modern American Poster 100.
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