The
logo for playboy was designed by art paul, the magazine's first
art director, the rabbit head has appeared on the cover of every
issue of the magazine since the second. Hugh hefner, the creator
of the 'playboy' magazine, once explained, 'I selected a rabbit
as the symbol for the magazine because of the humorous sexual
connotation, and because he offered an image that was frisky
and playful. I put him in a tuxedo to add the idea of sophistication.
there was another editorial consideration, too. since both 'the
new yorker' and 'esquire' use men as their symbols, I felt the
rabbit would be distinctive; and the notion of a rabbit dressed
up in formal evening attire struck me as charming, amusing and
right.' added art paul, 'if I had any idea how important that
little rabbit was going to be, I probably would have redrawn
him a dozen times to make certain I was doing him justice, and
I suppose none of those versions would have turned out as well
as the original. as it was, I did one drawing and that was it.
I probably spent all of half an hour on it.' From this, playboy
has expanded to many other areas, including its range of clothing
that has also become a success in the making.

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