Typographic Rules and Terms

-- Parts of the grid: what are the following: margin, column, alley, module, gutter, folio.
margin-the area around the layout where the text doesn't pass;  to keep the text from bleeding off the page.

column-the area or field into which text is flowed so that it is presented in an organized manner

alley-

module-

gutter-the middle of two pages (as in a two-page spread the center)

folio-folios, or page numbers, are traditionally placed at the outer edge of the bottom margin, where they are easy to see and aid navigation

-- What are the advantages of a multiple column grid.?

allows for the text to be organized more freely around the page rather than in just one place; it also keeps the text from being too “text heavy”

-- Why is there only one space after a period?
We learned two spaces after a period because characters on a typewriter are monospaced, but on a Mac they are proportional, which is they take up their proportional amount of space...so it is already figured into the spacing.

-- What is a character (in typography)?
An individual element of type such as a letter or punctuation mark.

-- How many characters is optimal for a line length? words per line?
40

-- Why is the baseline grid used in design?
Helps the words to look like they aren't floating.  The little curved parts of the letters dip a tiny bit below the baseline to help this.  Also, intro text and sub texts align and columns line up as well.

-- What is a typographic river?

In justified text, a typographic river is the white space created between words that flows through the text giving it the look of a river.

-- What does clotheslining or flow line or hangline mean?
the horizontal line that appears on a layout within the text; so your eye goes through the page

-- How can you incorporate white space into your designs?
by not filling the entire page with text or images and utilizing the white space

-- What is type color/texture mean?

is the non-white space in a layout

-- What is x-height, how does it effect type color?
The height of a lowercase x of a given typeface; 

-- Define Tracking.
The adjustable amount of space between letters.

-- Define Kerning. Why do characters need to be kerned? What are the most common characters that need to be kerned (kerning pairs)?

Kerning is the process of removing small units of space between letters in order to create visually-consistent letterspacing.  The most common characters that need to be kerned are:

HL   Two characters with verticals next to each other need the most amount of space between

HO  A vertical next to a curve needs less space

OC  Curve next to a curve needs very little space

OT   A curve can actually overlap into the white space under or above the bar or stem of a character, and vice versa

AT   The closest kerning is done where both letters have a great deal of white space around them

-- In justification or H&J terms what do the numbers: minimum, optimum, maximum mean?
The specific amount of space between words, the minimum being at the least possible, the optimum just right.

-- What is the optimum space between words?

enough for readability to be just right.  Not too clumped together and not too spread out;  easy to flow through.

-- What are some ways to indicate a new paragraph. Are there any rules?
Indentation.  Don't indent the first paragraph.  Can do a first-line indent, running indent, hanging indent, or on-a-point indent.

-- What are the rules associated with hyphenation?
Hyphens are used strictly for hyphenating words or line breaks.  En dashes are for amounts of time such as hourly, days or years.  Em dashes are abrupt changes in thought or where a period is too strong and a comma too weak.

-- What is a ligurature?
Ligatures prevent the collision or interference of characters, particularly the extended finial of the ‘f’. and the dot of the ‘i’

-- What does CMYK and RGB mean?

-- What does hanging punctuation mean?

-- What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe? What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?

Foot marks and inch marks are generic symbols that look like this ' (inch) " (foot).  An apostrophe and quote mark have a small circle and curve that make it present the quote or word, such as  “” ‘’.  The default for a foot mark and inch mark is that on the computer keyboard.  To make the apostrophes and smart quotes you hit option+[ (left bracket is quote, right bracket is apostrophe).  To make them go the other direction add shift.

-- What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used.

A hyphen (-) is used for hyphenating words or line breaks. It is found next to the equal sign on the keyboard. An en dash is used between words indicating a duration such as hourly time or months or years.  It is used with a thin space before and after, but not a full space.  It is made with option+hyphen. An em dash is twice as long as the en dash.  It is used in a manner similar to colon or parentheses, or indicates an abrupt change in thought.  It is made with option+shift+hyphen.

-- What is a widow and an orphan?

A widow is when a paragraph leaves fewer than seven characters on the last line.  An orphan is when the last line of a paragraph won't fit at the bottom of a column and must end itself at the top of the next column.

EMERGE yourself in the world of DESIGN

so i have been trying to emerge myself in the "design world" and really get a look at what is out there.  two hallmark symposiums ago the Craig LaRotonda talked about really "getting yourself out there."  he made some good points that i wrote down, and wanted to share.  

1.  promote your talents (websites, promotional mailings, etc.)

let people know who you are and what you can do

2.  draw/make art everyday

seems nearly impossible.  i wish i had time to draw everyday.  maybe i do.

3.  learn "the business side" of things

he talked about learning inventory, accounting, and building a business in general

4.  learn how to meet deadlines

if you miss one with a company, don't count on doing work with them again

5. take chances

put yourself out there

this was all very interesting and helpful for me.  enjoy.

HELVETICA

After watching the movie Helvetica, I realized how much design is incorporated in the world around us.  They're are so many ways in which we use it: billboards, street signs, store logos, clothing tags, etc.  The way that typography has developed over the years is incredible.  From casting and using ink to designing it on the computer each typeface has a unique quality that makes it is own.  I never realized how universal the font Helvetica was.  I found it interesting when people talked about how they didn't like it, that it was mundane and boring.  I think if a font is that universal it is a success, and Helvetica is.

Frederic William Goudy

Frederic William Goudy

“The perfect type would be invisible.” This quote displays the genuine attitude that Frederic Goudy took on when designing typefaces. Frederic William Goudy was a hardworking soul who dedicated his time and energy to creating beautiful typefaces while overcoming difficult circumstances at the same time. Although his career as a typographer didn’t even begin until he was a middle-aged man, he continued to work to find what he was good at in life, and when he did success was just was just the tip of the iceberg. Later in his life became one of the world’s most prolific designers and typographers that the world has ever seen.

Frederic William Goudy was born in Bloomington, Illinois, on August 3, 1865. Throughout his life Goudy took on many different occupations including bookkeeping, real estate, teaching, typesetting and many others. He began his first career in 1888 by taking up the job of a bookkeeper for credit and mortgage companies and just a year later he moved to Chicago where he worked in real estate. Goudy’s typographic journey started when he sent a set of capital letters to the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston, Massachusetts along with a note reading, “might these be worth five dollars?”. To his surprise his letterset was accepted and he was paid ten dollars, but after this another sale wasn’t made for a little more than three years. In 1896 Goudy produced his first font for a press in Chicago, which his friend and he opened up. The font was called Camelot and was designed specifically for the Camelot Press. After that, Goudy began teaching as an instructor of lettering in the year 1900. During this time he taught some famous typesetters including William Dwiggins, Oswald Cooper, and R. Hunter Middleton.

One of Frederic Goudy’s most remembered years was in 1903 when he founded the Village Press in Park Ridge, Illinois with his friend Will Ransom. This was later moved a couple of times, once to Boston and then on to New York. In 1905 Goudy started a small print shop in Chicago. It is unknown when the marriage of him and his wife, Bertha M. Sprinks Goudy, took place, but during this time in 1905 she acted as typesetter for him. In less than a year after what seemed to be a failure he moved to Hingham, Massachusetts to work for a press. Goudy was a little over 40-years old at this time and felt as though he had failed himself, but he still continued on. Most people at this point in their lives continue to do what they’re doing even if it’s something they don’t necessarily enjoy because it may feel as if it is too late to do something new, but Goudy took on a different attitude and pushed on for success. Goudy had a different mindset that gained him all the fame and fortune he enjoyed later in life. At age 42 Goudy moved to New York City and tried his skills at commercial lettering. Here he had finally found something he enjoyed and was good at.

In 1908, Frederic Goudy created his first really significant typeface for the Lanston Montotype Machine Company. It was called E-38, which today is also known as Goudy Light. After what had seemed like some success after all, bad luck took a toll on him when the Village Press burned completely down. As a result, he lost all of his equipment and designs and was forced to start over. Clearly, this didn’t stop him. He would start over. Just a few years later in 1911 he created Kennerly Old Style for an H.G.Wells anthology written by Mitchell Kennerly that was considered to be his first “hit”. Of all of his typefaces, Kennerly generated him the most money by being discovered across seas, ultimately reaching a value of over $25,000 in sales and royalties. The American Type Founders Company released one of his most well-known fonts in 1915, Goudy Old Style, which was considered to be an “instant classic” and is still used today in Harper’s Magazine.

In the year 1917 Goudy was asked to create a font for the University of California. As he was trying to decide how to design the font he remembered a memorable typeface he had got a rubbing of from a trip to Paris. The rubbing was taken from a stone tablet from the Louvre pertaining to Hadrian who was a Roman emperor in 2nd Century AD. He spent a night sketching a whole alphabet of letters from the true inspiration of these rubbings and created the font he called Hadriano. This font is still used today on diplomas for the University of California.
The following years Goudy was an art director for Lanston Monotype. He did this from 1920 to 1947. Goudy’s early font designs were mostly used for advertising. Later in his life his goal was to achieve “perfection” of the traditional roman typeface.

Goudy would draw his letters by hand and then send them to companies to make them into matrices. His engraver was Robert Weibking who unfortunately passed away in 1925. About him Goudy speaks that “his work was technically satisfactory, but I do not feel that type cast by any one else carries fully into print the exact qualities of rhythm and feeling I strive for in my original drawings. No punch cutter or matrix engraver, however skillful, can do more than approximate the subtleties of another’s thought and feeling.” After the death of Weibking and sending his sketches off he set up a foundry in his home in Marlbourough, New York. He set up type in a creative way making the matrices himself and worked to perfect the traditional roman typeface. His productivity was amazing as he produced over fifty types. The types that he designed and didn’t make into matrices existed as sketches, drawings or trial cuttings. Nearly fifteen years later bad luck struck his life again and another fire took place destroying all of his work along with his home and foundry. Because of this Frederic Goudy was unable to achieve “the perfect Roman”. The typefaces that he created while having a foundry at his home were subdivided into categories including “(1) a series of extraordinarily fine book types; (2) a corresponding series of italics; (3) a series of scholarly versions of calligraphic styles or of famous old types; (4) several sets of inscriptional capitals; and (5) a few special-purpose faces.” Luckily, most of these fifty-some fonts were saved from the fire in one form or another, but not all of them. Over the course of the years and through his tragedies Goudy managed to lose many typefaces but still has over a hundred that are in existence today.
After the tragedy of losing his home, foundry, and much of his work once again, Goudy devoted his life to teaching and lecturing including instructing a calligraphy class at the University of Syracuse. Although he didn’t build another foundry, he still continued to create more typefaces even after the loss. This was an eloquent display of his dedication and love for typography.

Frederic Goudy’s work was based on finding a way to create a beautiful type without making it too flamboyant and showy. His ideas and techniques were based on simplicity and perfection. It says a lot when a man can create a typeface by doing all of the steps himself. From sketching to casting and then to printing he engaged himself in each part of the process. He put the utmost care and perfection into the type he designed every step of the way. As a result he created many elegant and readable typefaces such as Deepdene, Copperplate Gothic and Trajan.
Goudy also published over 59 literary works throughout his lifetime. A few of the more popular books include “Alphabet” in 1918, “Elements of Lettering” in 1922 and “Typologia” in 1940.

An exhibition called “Goudyana” was opened up in the presence of Goudy at the Library of Congress in Washington. The numbers of fonts he designed that remain intact today is 116. Over 75 of his typefaces were destroyed in the fire in 1939.

In 1947 on a Sunday in May in Marlbourough, New York, Frederic William Goudy passed away. The cause of his death was unspecified. Goudy left behind countless ideas and techniques regarding typography. His impact on the world of design was so significant that he is still an inspiration and key influence on many typographers and designers today.
 

To this day Frederic Goudy is remembered as one of the world’s greatest designer’s. His dedication and perseverance is illustrated in the way he kept trying and working hard even when life didn’t seem to be going the way he planned. Some called him the “dean of twentieth century designers”, others refer to him as the “father of an American school of design”. No matter what you want to call him, one thing obvious is that he made a huge impact on the world of design and typography in general.


Year # Font Name
1869 1 Camelot
1897 2 Unnamed
1897 3 A "Display" Roman
1898 4 DeVinne Roman
1902 5 I Pabst Roman™ I
1903 6 Pabst Italic
1903 7 I Powell™ I
1903 8 Village
1904 9 Cushing Italic
1904 10 Boston News Letter
1904 11 Engravers' Roman
1905 12 Copperplate Gothics
1905 13 Caxton Initials
1905 14 Globe Gothic Bold
1905 15 Caslon Revised
1908 16 Goudy 38-e™
1908 17 Goudy 38-e Italic™
1910 18 Norman Capitals
1911 19 I Kennerley Old Style™ I
1911 19 I Kennerley Open Caps™ I
1911 20 I Forum Title™ I
1912 21 Sherman
1912 22 Goudy Lanston™

1914 23 Goudy Roman
1915 24 Klaxon
1915 25 I Goudy Old Style ™ I
1915 26 I Goudy Old Style Italic ™ I
1916 27 I Goudy Cursive ™ I
1916 28 Booklet Old Style
1916 29 National Old Style
1916 30 Goudytype
1917 31 Advertiser's Roman
1917 31 An Unnamed Design
1918 32 I Kennerly Italic™ I
1918 32 I Goudy Initials ® / Cloister Initials ® I
1918 33 I Hadriano Title™ I
1918 34 Goudy Open
1918 35 Goudy Modern
1919 36 Collier Old Style
1919 37 Goudy Modern Italic
1919 38 Goudy Open Italic

1919 39 Goudy Antique
1921 40 Nabisco
1921 41 Lining Gothic
1921 42 I Garamont™ I
1921 43
1921 44 Goudy Newstyle
1924 45 Goudy Italic
1924 46 Italian Old Style™
1924 47 Italian Old Stlye Italic™
1924 48 I Kennerley Bold™ I
1924 49 I Kennerley Bold Italic™ I
1925 50 I Goudy Heavy Face™ I
1925 51 I Goudy Heavy Face Italic™ I
1925 52 Marlborough
1925 53 Venezia Italic
1926 54 Aries
1927 55 Goudy Dutch
1927 56 Companion Old Style
1927 57 Companion Old Style Italic
1927 58 I Deepdene ™ I
1927 59 I Record Title ™ I
1927 60 Goudy Uncials

1928 61 I Deepdene Italic ™ I
1928 62 I Goudy Text ™ I
1929 63 Strathmore Title
1929 64 I Lombardic Capitals ™ I
1929 65 Sans Serif Heavy
1929 66 I Kaatskill Oldstyle ™ I
1929 67 I Remington Typewriter ™ I
1930 68 Inscription Greek
1930 69 Trajan Title
1930 70 Sans Serif Light
1930 71 Mediaeval
1930 71 I Hadriano Lower-case ™ I
1930 72 Advertiserπs Modern
1930 73 Goudy Stout
1930 74 Truesdell
1931 75 Truesdell Italic
1931 76 Deepdene Open Text ™
1931 76 Deepdene Text ™
1931 77 Ornate Title
1931 78 Sans Serif Light Italic
1931 79 Deepdene Medium ™
1932 80 Goethe
1932 81 Franciscan
1932 82 I Deepdene Bold™ I
1932 83 Mostert

1932 84 I Village No. 2 ™ I
1932 84 Quinan Old Style
1932 86 Goudy Bold Face
1932 87 Goudy Book
1933 88 Goudy Hudson
1933 89 Goethe Italic
1933 90 Deepdene Bold Italic ™
1934 91 Saks Goudy
1934 92 Saks Goudy Italic
1934 92 Saks Goudy Bold
1934 93 I Hadriano Stone Cut™ I
1934 94 I Village Italic™ I
?? 95 I Californian Oldstyle™ I
1953 96 I Goudy Thirty ™ I

Featured Font:  Goudy Old Style
Font Classification:  Old Style Font

Distinguishing Characteristics:
1. based on old style type

2. based on handwriting
3. elegant
4. readable
5. short x-height
6. serif

Goudy Old Style was created in 1916 by Frederic William Goudy for the American Type Founders. There was much going on in the world during this time. World War I was ongoing during this year. Other events include the Mexican Revolution, Summer Olympics in Germany were cancelled, and the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers is founded in the United States.

Works Cited

Beilenson, Peter. The Story of Frederic W Goudy. New York: Peter Pauper Press, 1965.

Boone, Andrew R. ¬“Type By Goudy.” Popular Science April 1942: 114-119.

Lanston Type Library. “Frederic Goudy Fonts”. 3 November 2008.

http://www.p22.com/lanston/giampa/goudy-type-face-list.html

Linotype.com. 20 October 2008. 

http://www.linotype.com/396/fredericwgoudy.html

Questia Encyclopedia. 7 November 2008. 

http://www.questia.com/library/encyclopedia/goudy_frederic_william.jsp

The Typographic Archives. 2006. 20 October 2008. 

http://www.typographia.org/1999/graphion/goudy.html

University of California, Los Angeles. 20 October 2008. 

http://classes.design.ucla.edu/winter07/155/projects/luca/dma%20155_frederic%20goudy.pdf

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 20 October 2008. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/frederic_goudy

Frederic William Goudy

history of typography: the industrial revolution

The Industrial Revolution affected typography and its advancement in many different ways. It had two major effects on print communication including the introduction of more functional type designs for commercial business and new kinds of print. Print media emerged from this era and allowed advertising to be done in a new, effective, mass-producing way.

The ability to design new typefaces was easier as well. The Linotype Machine (right), or Line-Casting Machine, was invented during this time and improved the rate at which type can be set. Its input was much like that of a typewriter. Thomas Edison considered this to be "the eighth wonder of the world". A few other of inventions during this time were the Pantographic Punchcutter in 1885, and the Monotype Character Caster in 1893. The Punchcutter worked by having an operator trace a brass pattern of a letter with one part of the device, and its cutting tool engraved the letter onto the punch. The Character Caster cast single letters in lead and composed them into a page.

Something else introduced during this time was the style of bold face. Serifs were experimented with as well, and eventually disappeared altogether into a style known as grotesque.

American Typefoundry (ATF) was also founded during this time. It was largely directed and created by Morris Fuller Benton (right). 23 type foundries merged together to create this company that is a monopoly in the type industry, and the largest in the world.

In 1796 Commercial Art was founded by Alois Senefelder. By the year 1848 the process was refined to print speeds of 10,000 sheets per hour allowing for mass production at a fast rate. Lithography merged art with industry to produce posters and plates for books. This is now known as Graphic Design, although the term did not come about until the 1950s.

Quiz Question: Name one invention from the Industrial Revolution.

Sources:

http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/type_basics/slab_serif.htm

http://www.typophile.com

http://www.myfonts.com/foundry/atf

Ambrose, Gavin and Paul Harris. The Fundamentals of Typography. Switzerland: AVA Publishing, 2006.

definitions.

absolute measurement-measurements of fixed values; all absolute measurements are expressed in finite terms that cannot be altered

relative measurement-many measurements, such as character spacing, are linked to type size, which means the relationships are defined by a series of relative measurements; ems and ens are examples of relative measurements that have no prescribed, absolute size; their size is relative to the size of the type being set

points-the point is the unit of measurement used to measure the type size of a font (ex: 7pt Times New Roman); this measurement refers to the height of the typed block, not the letter itself; also 1/72nd of an inch

picas-unit of measurement equal to 12 points that is commonly used for lines of type

x-height-the height of the lowercase 'x'; as such is a relative measurement that varies from typeface to typeface

the em-a relative unit of measurement used in typesetting to define basic spacing functions, and therefore it is linked to the size of the type; equals the size of the given type

the en-a unit of relative measurement equal to half of one em

en dash- 1/2 of an em rule and is used to separate page numbers, dates, and to replace the word 'to' in construction implying movement

em dash- used to form lines and house nested clauses

hyphen-1/3 of an em rule and is used to link words

alignment-refers to the position of type within a text block, in both the vertical and horizontal planes

justification-this alignment allows the appearance of rivers of white space to appear;  word spacing on separate lines is irregular, unlike range left type where all lines have the same spacing

flush left-this alignment follows the principle of handwriting, with text tight and aligned to the left margin and ending ragged on the right

flush right-right aligning text is less common as it is more difficult to read;  it is sometimes used for picture captions and other accompanying texts as it is clearly distinct from body copy

letterspacing-adds space between letterforms to open up text;  the addition of too much space can make text look disjointed as words start to dissemble

kerning-the removal of space between characters;  kern originally referred to part of a character that extended outside its bounding block or printing block

tracking-adjusting this affects the amount of spacing between characters

word spacing-adjusts the amount of space between words

widow-lone word at the end of a paragraph

orphan-the final one or two lines of a paragraph separated from the main paragraph to form a new column, and should be avoided at all costs

leading-a hot-metal printing term that refers to the strips of lead that were inserted between text measures in order to space them accurately; leading is specified in points and refers nowadays to the space between lines of text in a text block

indent-text blocks can be indented so that some or all of the text lines are moved in from the margin by a specified amount; traditionally the first paragraph is not indented, with indentation commencing with the second paragraph

first line indent-the text is indented from the left margin in the first line of the second and subsequent paragraphs;  the first paragraph in a document following a heading, subhead, or crosshead is not normally indented as this introduces an awkward space, although this can be done

hanging indent-similar to a running indent except the first line of the text is not indented

adrian frutiger.

Adrian Frutiger was born in Switzerland, and grew up with a passion for the arts.  His interest was mostly in sculpture, but that was discouraged by both his father and school teachers.  They realized he had a real talent in printing, but

 he continued to do both.  It is noticeable in his work that his work as a sculptor has influenced his typographical design skills.  

Adrian is mostly known for his creation of the font "univers", which is often confused with other fonts, "helvetica" and "folio" (all being based on the 1896 font "Akzidenz-Grotesk".  

Adrian designed this to eliminate confusion.  The number used in a font is a combination of 2 numbers.  The first set describes the weight and the second width and position.  They describe styles anywhere from ultra light, normal, and heavy, to extended, oblique, and ultra condensed.  The way he designed this numbering system is very unique and creative, and much less confusing that word description.

The univers grid is also something that almost all designers are familiar with.  Different variations of the fonts are labeled by numbers as opposed to names.  It is said that "Frutiger envisioned a large family with multiple widths and weights that maintained a unified design idiom."  

Source:

http://jonmoserdesign.com/images/frutigerposter.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Frutiger

john baskerville.

John Baskerville is best remembered as a typographer and printer.  Born in England, John later in his life became a member of the Royal Society of Arts.  His works became well-known and well-used by the Royal Society of Arts and Benjamin Franklin, who later brought his work to the United States, which were adopted for government publishing.

Early in his life, John was a master writer and headstone engraver.  Over the course of the years, this turned into him setting up a printing business, and doing very well at that.  He managed to print a series of books but lost money doing so, so ended up asking the government for a subsidy to produce a bible for a university. 

Baskerville is still used quite often today, thanks to George Jones' revision and accurate recutting of the metal of Baskerville's English 14pt. Roman and Italic and 1929 done for Linotype & Machinery Ltd.  

The font is very unique in a sense that there is a greater contrast between the thick and thin strokes, the curved strokes being very circular in shape, and the serifs being sharper than usual.  It is said, and obvious to look at, that his background as a writing master can be seen in his work and design of fonts.  

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Baskerville

http://www.myfonts.com/person/baskerville/john

http://www.virtualbrum.co.uk/history/images/brum7.1.gif

grids

why do we as designers use grids?

what are the benefits or functions?

look around you.  grids are everywhere--the tiles on the floor, the table set-up in a restaurant, the lines in the parking lot, city blocks.  grids are an essential part of our everyday life.  they keep things looking clean and organized, and aesthetically pleasing.  this is also much of the reason that we as designers use grids in our own work.  not only does it make communicating the message easier, but is visually satisfying.  if everything is scattered and un-aligned, someone is much less likely to want to read it or even so, look at it.  

there are many benefits to using a grid.  it helps us to organize our work so that it is easily readable and interesting to look at.   even if it wasn't a requirement, i would prefer to use a grid because you can lay things out and really get a good balance on the whole page.  

just looking at this movie poster of helvetica, you can see that some sort of a grid was used.  the "v-e-t" is offset but still helps to balance the rest of the words out and make for a very interesting and fun design.

sources:  

http://www.markboulton.co.uk/articles/detail/why_use_a_grid/

http://walkingdisaster8.blogspot.com

who is paul rand?

To this day, Paul Rand is one of the greatest graphic designers America has ever seen.  Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1914, Paul had an interest in design since he was just a little boy.  At a young age, Rand began painting signs for his fathers store and for various school events, and fell in love with the hobby.  His father never though art was something one could make a living out of, so while attending high school, his father suggested that he take night classes at the Pratt Institute.  After that, Rand attended various other art schools, including Parson's School of Design and the Art Students League, even though it was never something that meant much to him.  Rand was never one to be taught how to design.  Because of this, Rand learned most of style by following other designer's work and teaching himself, and was very successful in doing so.  

After attending school himself, Rand taught design at Yale University, and began designing logos for various corporations.  Paul created many well-known logos, some of which are still in use today, such as IBM, ABC, and UPS.  The style he used was very effective, simple and to-the-point.

Later in his life, in 1972, Rand was inducted into the New York Art Director's Hall of Fame.  In 1996 Rand died of cancer and will ever be remembered as one of America's greatest graphic designers of all time.

Sources:  

http://www.logodesignlove.com/all-about-paul-rand

http://www.paul-rand.com/

http://www.logoblog.org/wordpress/paul-rand/