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How Much Did Paul Rand Charge Steve Jobs for the NeXT Logo?

Paul Rand charged Steve Jobs $100,000 to design the NeXT logo, and he required a first-class flight, a nice hotel, and a presentation of the work. Susan Kare says Jobs had suggested a contest instead: hire four or five firms, pay each $15,000, and if none produced a logo, pick a firm to keep working with. She does not think a bake-off gets the best design. She chose firms whose work she had seen in Communication Arts. She knew Paul Rand's work, including the UPS and Westinghouse logos. In later histories, Steve Jobs says he chose Paul Rand.

Paul Rand later asked for additional thousands of dollars to print a presentation book. The other firms showed their work. His book of the logo blew the room away. He and Steve Jobs got along. Both were feisty and argumentative, and they respected each other after the fact.

Jobs then asked Rand for a personal business card, not the NeXT card. The type read Steven P. Jobs. Jobs liked it except for the period after the P. Rand said the period was set the way it would be in lead type, not digital type, and that it was classic. Jobs told him to move the period. Rand would not. They never made the cards.

Transcript

Twiddling Bits with Susan Kare ·

First of Kind

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