Things I learned from Paul Rand: 11 – Steve Jobs
There was an interesting dynamic between Paul Rand and Steve Jobs. To me, it was that of a mutual admiration.
NeXT Computer
By the time I got to know Paul Rand, it had already been few years since he created the logo for Steve Jobs’ NeXT Computer. Paul and Marion Rand always spoke affectionately about Steve, how he was incredibly smart, how warmly he treated Paul, and even how he always got speeding tickets for driving fast on his black Porsche.
On the other hand, it is often chronicled how Steve revered Paul, like in this video of him talking about the NeXT logo.
The 28º angle
Perhaps, an interesting detail I remember about the NeXT logo, famous for its tilted design, was that it was originally straight when it was presented to Steve Jobs. This is evident in this video of Paul’s presentation.
Paul once told me that the NeXT logo indeed was originally straight. But the logo was tilted only in the last page of his logo presentation book, only to show how you can make a sticker label to seal an envelope. To make sure it was more obvious that this was a sticker, he tilted the logo.
If I remember correctly, when Steve Jobs saw this he told Paul how much he liked the logo in an angle, he asked if the logo couldn’t be tilted all the time. Paul agreed, and redid the entire presentation book right away with the tilt.
Apple logo
As a random side note, I remember Paul once asked me what I thought of the Apple logo. I told him I thought it was a good logo – it was useful, it worked in different sizes, you didn’t even need the name “Apple” attached to it since the shape was very recognizable, and the bite indent even helped the read and memorability.
After a pause, Paul exclaimed, “But that rainbow color is just awful!”
(He might have followed that up with one of his favorite phrases, “It’s for the birds.”)
Think different
This was still before 1997, when Steve Jobs made a triumphant return to Apple. Their computers were still beige, and still crashed a lot. The Apple logo, like Paul complained, still was in the rainbow color. I couldn’t disagree with Paul, the rainbow color that was originally supposed to highlight their ability to work on color monitors (which was a big deal when Apple first started), looked very dated already. I remember, after this comment, I hacked my home computer so that it displayed a black & white Apple logo in the startup screen. It did look a lot better.
When Steve finally returned to Apple, their logo was still rainbow, like seen in this famous “Think Different” ad campaign by Chiat Day.
No more rainbow
However, I think that rainbow logo lasted only another year or two after Steve Jobs’ return. By the time iMacs were coming out, the Apple logo didn’t have the color stripes. I always wondered if Paul had a chance to tell Steve how awful that rainbow was. Or, if the talented people at Chiat Day reached the same conclusion soon enough.
They did think different
Paul Rand was already gone by the time Steve Jobs rebuilt Apple to the incredible success that is today. But I do believe Steve would have contacted Paul for some Apple work if he was still around then. Nonetheless, it was a really nice tribute from Apple to include Paul in their historic ad campaign that celebrated people who had the courage to “think different.”
