an Eye, a Bee, an “M” (Paul Rand)

Calling all Big Blue Buffs, Watsonians, Thinkerheads, and Blunatics. This one’s for you. It’s the second printing of Paul Rand’s iconic IBM rebus. (There were only 100 of the first printing.) Let us just cut to the chase and paste what Steve Heller wrote about this one:

The 1981 Eye-Bee-M rebus is Paul Rand’s most iconic poster (the equivalent, say, of Lucian Bernhard’s Priester Match or Milton Glaser’s Dylan poster). It has become synonymous with the playful side of his IBM design direction—and a little controversy arose because the higher-ups believed that by toying with the sanctity of the corporate logo, the floodgates would open to anarchy. The poster became a classic because it humanized the corporation.

A total beauty. No joke. (We wrote that.)