[Paul Rand: 48 sketches, mechanicals, and proofs for the logo of The Limited + 6 pages of sketches, designs, and notes for a logo for TLC Group]

The nice thing about offering things once owned by Steve Heller is that sometimes he’s already written the description for us. This time he’s done us a solid by posting this:

Paul Rand said he would only show the client one logo idea. Although he always had a few up his sleeve. In fact, he admitted that he often did sketches whether he got the job or not. In 1988 he worked on a word mark for The Limited and logo for TLC Group, a successful African American owned business. Neither were produced, but as the sketches below show, Rand worked on (and played around with) many versions before deciding on what to show. There is no record of a final for TLC, which owned Beatrice Foods, but for The Limited, a clothing chain based in Columbus, Ohio, the final was the double line version with the words at a right angle and the “I” on either side of the “M” holding hands.

This collection of sketches, mechanicals, stats, and notes is kept in black binder and is a physical trail that shows what was involved with developing a logo for presentation to a client. It’s fascinating to see dead ends and false starts, all made on the way from start to finish.