It was a sad day last week to read of the demise of Paul Rand’s seminal YALE PRESS logotype.
While I have always loved the simple magic inherent in these four constructed letters, a few years ago I decided to channel Mr. Rand’s spirit into a collection of typographic experiments and expressions including the Thirst logotype. Whenever I work within the Yale Press linguistic typology, I think of myself as someone who is carrying the spark of life belonging to someone else. It has been a personal and professional pleasure leading me to creative places I could never have imagined two years ago and therefore, I am both changed and grateful to this Mr. Rand’s press mark.
Now, upon re-reading the dialog that surrounds the announcement of Yale’s decision, I am disappointed by the decision to put this iconic form to pasture and in turn swap it with the ubiquitous/generic. The only question that comes to my mind is why didn’t they adopt this typographic brilliance to represent the university? Cowards all of them.
from yale daily news:
The two organizations, which have “complementary missions,” may be trying to bring together paths that have diverged in recent years, University Printer John Gambell said. Although Gambell said he was fond of Rand’s logo, he added that the design had plenty of critics.“A lot of people didn’t like it,” Gambell said. “A lot of people found it kind of asymmetrical and untraditional and kind of a little bit hard to decode.”
AIGA Miami Lecture Poster and Classic Color’s Las Vegas Poster
Moving Design’s Logo
One Comment
Boooo! Yale dropped a still fresh logo in exchange for a totally unoriginal transitional serif. I can see the need for an update if the original was somehow dated, but Rand’s logo was fresh as ever, as proved by your inspirations. Unfortunately bland university branding overruled good design in this case.