In his autobiography, An Economist’s Testimony (1992), Frankel expressed regret that over the years the philosophers and historians had largely dropped out of the Mont Pelerin Society, leaving it to the economists. And much of his own writing in later years straddled these various disciplines, most notably perhaps his Money: two philosophies (the conflict of trust and authority) (1977) and Money and Liberty (1980).In Oxford, he found his most congenial settings first in Nuffield College, where he felt able to contribute actively to the development of what was then (just after the war) a still very new institution (and indeed still not built); and second – after his retirement in 1971 – in the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies. Here, too, he enjoyed the challenge of new beginnings and Oxford has become an important centre of Jewish studies.By no means an observant Jew, Frankel was none the less committed to the ideas of Jewish peoplehood and he dated his Zionist beliefs back to the First World War. In 1936, he went to Jerusalem to help Chaim Weizmann prepare the evidence to be presented by the Jewish Agency to the Royal Commission on Palestine chaired by Earl Peel (it eventually recommended partition of the country). Of his draft report, Frankel later wrote self- deprecatingly that Lewis Namier, another adviser, “reduced what I had written by a half without the omission of a single idea”.During and immediately after the Second World War, Frankel did much to safeguard the infant diamond-cutting production in Palestine and Israel, now a major export industry.Herbert Frankel was a man of great charm: a natural raconteur, with a remarkable memory for a telling anecdote from his varied life.

He made friends easily and from all walks of life; and his friendships were long- lasting. For many years the home of Herbert and his wife, Ilse, on Hinksey Hill, Oxford, was a centre of hospitality for colleagues, students, friends and family. In recent years, he continued to follow events closely and to keep his spirits high. He found a certain satisfaction in the respective achievements of Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher.Sally Herbert Frankel, economist: born 22 November 1903; Professor of Economics, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 1931-46; Professor in the Economics of Underdeveloped Countries, Oxford University 1946-71 (Emeritus); married 1928 Ilse Frankel (one son, one daughter); died 12 December 1996.. Paul Rand was one of the most influential graphic designers of the 20th century.

Although he is not widely known to the public, his work is universally and instantly recognisable – in particular the enduring logotypes he designed over the past 40 years for leading US corporations such as IBM and Apple

Rand was born in 1914 in Brooklyn, New York. He studied at the Pratt Institute (1929-32), Parsons School of Design (1932-33) and was taught by the graphic artist George Grosz at the Arts Student League (1933-34). Establishing his own studio in 1935, he was amongst the first to initiate what would become design consultancy. He emphasised the importance of the visual element in projecting an idea or identity, where previously text had been the predominant means of conveying these messages; and with this visual element, the crucial role of the graphic designer.
By 1937, aged only 23, he had achieved the position of art director of both Esquire and Apparel arts magazines.His studies into the European avant-garde art movements (among them Cubism, De Stijl, Constructivism, and the Bauhaus) significantly influenced these early years and his adaptation of their principles, combined with the inspiration he derived from American culture, developed into a highly individual graphic style.

Montage, collage, painting, photography and typography all found a place in his designs, which emphasised visual, rather than textual, solutions to problem solving. His sharp creative ability and skilful reading of how design should communicate through its content led him to become widely influential whilst still in his twenties.From 1941 to 1954 Rand worked for the William H. Weintraub advertising agency, where he applied his formidable design approach to advertisements. Collaborating with the copywriter Bill Bernbach he developed the integration of design and copy into a model of the “creative team” approach – bringing together a group of people to exchange ideas – and thus anticipated a move that would change the face of advertising in the post-war years.During the 1950s, when graphic design truly evolved, with an explosion in the worlds of television, publishing and corporate identity, Rand was one of the designers who became a seminal figure.

From 1955 he freelanced, becoming a graphic consultant to leading US companies, and his work had a huge influence on the development of company corporate identity and its application. IBM, Cummins Engine Company, Westinghouse, United Parcel Service, ABC Television: all benefited from his crisp, clear, concise logotypes.His other important contribution to design was in education – he was appointed Professor of Graphic Design at Yale in 1956 and continued to lecture there for the following 36 years. His book Thoughts on Design (1946), illustrated with examples of his work, is regarded as a classic text on graphics, influential on successive generations of designers.This legacy can be seen in the work of many of today’s eminent designers. Alan Fletcher (one of the founding members of Pentagram, the design group) considers Paul Rand to be “the first guru of design”; Rand gave Fletcher, as a young designer, his first freelance work in the United States, for IBM.I was introduced to Rand’s work while a student, by a college tutor, Richard McConnell (whose brother, the outstanding designer John McConnell, of Pentagram, is undoubtedly a disciple of Rand’s “ideas” approach to graphics). What excited me about it was that the designs were concerned with ideas and content, not just technique. This was design that encompassed both simplicity and clarity of message, by aesthetic and intellectual means, and which surpassed any notion of fashion.It was through my own writings on design, which he encouraged, that I established a friendship and correspondence with Rand over several years. He was unceasingly inquisitive about design in the UK (or Merry England, as he called it) and anything related to design.