Paul Rand

Color is objective; color is subjective. A color that is perfect in one instance is useless in another. Color is complexity personified. The use of color implies a knowledge, or at least an awareness, not only of the mechanics of color, but also of the formal, psychological, and cultural problems involved. Color cannot be separated from its physical environment without changing.

It is imposible to define cold without contrasting it with heat. It is imposible to comprehend life if death is ignored. Black IS the color of death, but by virtue of this same psychological fact it is also the color of life - it defines, contrasts, and enhances life, light, and color. It is through the artist's awareness of black as a polar element and consequently of its paradoxical nature that the color black can be appreciated and effectively used. And the artist must not forget that its neutrality makes black the common denominator of a multicolored world.

The following are but a few instances of our everyday experiences in which the magical, almost hypnotic, effects of repetition operate: the exciting spectacle of marching soldiers in the same dress, same step and same attitude; the fascination of neatly arranged flower beds of like color, structure, and texture; the impressive sight of crowds at football games, theaters, public demonstrations; the satisfaction we derive from the geometric patterns created by ballet dancers and chorus girls with identical costumes and movements; the feeling of order evoked by rows of methodically placed packages on the grocer's shelf; the comforting effect of the regularity of repeating patterns in textiles and wallpapers; the excitement we experience at the sight of plane formations or migrating flocks of birds.

A trademark is a picture. It is a symbol a sign an emblem an escutcheon ...an image. There are good symbols... like the cross. There are others... like the swastika. Their meanings are taken from reality. Symbols are a duality. They take on meaning from causes ...good or bad. And they give meaning to causes... good or bad. The flag is a symbol of a country. The cross is a symbol of religion. The swastika was a symbol of good luck until its meaning was changed. The vitality of a symbol comes from effective dissemination... by the state by the community by the church by the corporation. It needs attending to get attention. The trademark is a symbol of a corporation. It is not a sign of quality, it is a sign of THE quality. The trademark for Chanel smells as good as the perfume it stands for. This is the blending of form and content. Trademarks are animate inanimate organic geometric. They are letters ideograms monograms colors things. Ideally they do not illustrate they indicate... not represent but suggest... and are stated with brevity and wit. A trademark is created by a designer and made by a corporation. A trademark is a picture an image... the image of a corporation.