Paul Rand and the NeXT Logo

NeXT logo by Paul Rand, 1986.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the NeXT logo designed by Paul Rand in this week’s reading. I started working for NeXT in 1988 as employee #244. I  didn’t know much about Paul Rand, but quickly learned about his famous logo designs that included IBM, Westinghouse, Adobe, and NeXT.  It was rumored at the company Steve Jobs paid Rand 100,000 dollars to design the logo.  Having seen the way money flew out the door, I didn’t doubt this amount.

The logo was an icon almost equal in stature to
Steve Jobs.   Placement of the logo at a 28 degree angle was no joke.  We employees could instantaneously lose our jobs by not following the logo use guidelines and corporate identity manual to the exact specifications.  Everything down to namebadges had perfect placement of the logo. The first system created by NeXT was a square black cube. Rand brilliantly created a logo that embodied the essence of a 3D cube with the company name.  
As Norman Ives would say, the logo embodied a "true gestalt".  
There are some wonderful videos on YouTube of Paul Rand
introducing his design to NeXT senior staff and of Steve Jobs
discussing Paul Rand.  Paul Rand lives up to his promise to 
'solve the design problem at hand'. 

^{Paul Rand as posted on YouTube}

VIDEO LINK as posted on YouTube:
Paul Rand introducing his design for NeXT to Steve Jobs and team:   Famous Graphic Desingers - Paul Rand Introducing the NeXT identity

VIDEO LINK as posted on YouTube: Steve Jobs Discussing Paul Rand

1993 interview re: Paul Rand and Steve Jobs

Google doodle as posted on Google homepage, 10/29/12

On the flip side, Google has found a way to retain a tight corporate identity while still making room for creative fun. The Google homepage ‘doodles’ that periodically alter the Google logo are clever and engaging. The homepage is a magnet, and I am usually pleasantly surprised.  I recently saw this doodle of the legendary Bob Ross.  It made me chuckle. Many of us have seen his lessons on public access television. I also love this doodle celebrating Kieth Haring's 54th birthday. In the end we all know what the official Google logo looks like. Google has created over 1000 doodles that play on the corporate logo. It now has a team of engineers and illustrators devoted to making doodles celebrating artists, holidays, science and random notions.

Google doodle as posted on Google web site.

The NeXT system was light years ahead of its time. Sadly, even with a world-class logo and engineering team, the company just couldn’t break into a hazy market. Was the system a pc or a workstation?   Lack of software for this trailblazing computer also played a big role.  NeXT being purchased by Apple was the ultimate silver lining. OS10, the current operating system of Apple products, was invented at NeXT. 

Resources:
http://www.logodesignlove.com/next-logo-paul-rand
http://www.paul-rand.com/foundation/portraits/#.UKvCJmfrR8E