Paul Rand: The Designer's Task

September 15, 2018 - February 10, 2019

Paul Rand was a giant of American design, whose influential career spanned the second half of the twentieth century. His visionary and pithy conceptions of corporate and non-profit brand identities—though often graphically minimal—embody the artist’s complex philosophy, interest in modernist aesthetics, and singular wit. This exhibition features posters, book covers, and packaging designs from Rand’s beginnings as a pro bono designer for arts and culture publications like Direction magazine to his decades of crafting trailblazing corporate design for companies such as IBM. Paul Rand: The Designer’s Task affords viewers the opportunity to explore the genre of graphic design within the context of the art museum and examine how Rand’s intellectual process and impact on visual culture developed over time.

Lead support for Paul Rand: The Designer's Task is provided by the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment.

Images

Paul Rand, Direction/Dancer, 1939, silkscreen on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.212

Paul Rand, Earth Day ‘95, 1995, offset lithograph on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.219

Paul Rand, IBM Latin America, 1981, silkscreen on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.205

Paul Rand, SOS Children’s Villages, 1996, offset lithograph on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips, 2016/2.198

Timeline

Exhibition Timeline

SatSep 15
Exhibition Opens
Sun
Sep 30
Paul Rand: The Designer's Task
2:00pm3:00pm
Gallery Talks and Tours
Sun
Oct 28
Paul Rand: The Designer's Task
2:00pm3:00pm
Gallery Talks and Tours
Sun
Nov 11
In Conversation: Paul Rand and the Power of Design
3:00pm4:00pm
Artists and Curators / Exhibitions Related / Gallery Talks and Tours
Sun
Nov 18
Paul Rand: The Designer's Task
2:00pm3:00pm
Gallery Talks and Tours
Sun
Dec 16
Paul Rand: The Designer's Task
2:00pm3:00pm
Gallery Talks and Tours
Sun
Jan 6
Paul Rand: The Designer's Task
2:00pm3:00pm
Gallery Talks and Tours
Fri
Feb 8
UMMA and Stamps School of Art Design present: Steven Heller: Paul Rand: A Designer’s Scribbles
6:00pm7:15pm
Exhibitions Related
Sun
Feb 10
Paul Rand: The Designer's Task
2:00pm3:00pm
Gallery Talks and Tours
SunFeb 10
Exhibition Closes
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