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This essay will discuss the life of Paula Scher (image 1) in the first part and in the second part it will discuss some of my personal observations about building of her career.
Paula Scher is an known American graphic designer and typographer, who was born in 1948, Washington DC. As you can read at Pentagram (2011) official webpages in 1970, Scher was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Tyler School of Arts in Philadelphia. As a Kramer (2010) says Scher studied under Polish illustrator, Stanislaw Zagorski, who gave her a piece of advice that she has carried throughout her career. The advice was “illustrate with type” . Once she began to incorporate this method into her work, her art excelled. She made a lot of great designs including magazine covers, promotional material, logos and the whole identity for clients like The Public Theater, Bloomberg, Citybank and many else. As Aiga (2011) pointed out Paula's graphic identities for Citibank and Tiffany & Co. have become case studies for the contemporary regeneration of classic American brands.
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Scher began her career in CBS and Atlantic records. „During working in CBS records I hated the Swiss international style. When I was in art school, I had teachers who praised Helvetica.” (Scher, no date). Even though is was guite fashionable typeface during her school days, she hated it. As a video by TEDtalksDirector (2009) showing, she came up with her aim, which was to do stuff that wasn't made out of Helvetica. So, Scher was looking her inspiration in movements like Art Noveau, Art Deco or Victoriana typography, an example you can look at image 2. To prove her interest about historical typefaces I would point out on the book by Drew et al. (2005, p.125), where we can read more about her influences.
Suddenly she developed her own personal style, which was nice and people wanted to see it.
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The first projects, which I am interested in the most, is the project of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (image 3), which was set up in the year 2000 by the center's president Larry Goldman as Scher (2002, p.246) writes in her book. Scher was asked to redesign the this building for 100 000 $. She took some pictures of it, and she started to work in photoshop at some ideas. The final design looks wonderful to me. It is place, which looks modern, if I will pass around it I would wonder how is it looking inside, and I would be very curious what place is that. And I belive, that it was her aim.
The second project is The New 42nd Street studios, which was opened in 2000. Both on these projects can show us, how effectively is used typography as an element of design.In my opinion, Paula Scher is really one of the designers , who is thinking during designing. As an example I would pick an image 4, which shows great location on the typography. Paula herself says: „Why can't the signage be on the floor, New Yorkers look at their feet.” (TEDtalksDirector, 2009) And this statement brings me to my conclusion.
In conclusion, I really like her job, because all of her designs have sense. The designs are playful, colourful (image 5), and when you are looking at her final work, you are suddenly full of energy. In my opinion these vivid colours give you nice feeling and good mood.
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| Image 4 |
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References:
AIGA (2011) Inside the Designer's Studio: Paula Scher. [Online]
Drew, N., Sternberger, P. (2005) By its Cover : Modern American Book Cover Design. New York: Princeton Architectural Press
Kramer, H. (2010) Paula Scher [Online]. Available at: http://www.danamcclure.com/teaching/Image_2010/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Paula-Scher.pdf (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
Pentagram (2011) Paula Scher [Online]. Available at: http://www.pentagram.com/partners/#/19/ (Accesed: 8 March 2011)Scher, P. (2002) Make it bigger. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Scher, P. (no date) Interviewed by Graeme Aymer for ComputerArts [Online]. Available at: http://www.computerarts.co.uk/in_depth/interviews/paula_scher2 (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
List of visuals:
- Images:
Image 1: Paula Scher [Online]. Available at: http://diegoguevara.com/blog/2010/03/03/what-they-don%E2%80%99t-teach-you-about-identity-design-in-design-schools%E2%80%A6/ (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
Image 2: Scher, P. (no date) Victorian 1 [Online]. Available at: http://serifdechocolate.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/victorian1.jpg (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
Image 3: Scher, P. (2002) Make it bigger. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 246 - 247, illus.
Image 4: No name [Online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atn22-bmTPU (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
Image 5: Spencer, A.C. (20010) Typographic Mural [Online]. Available at: http://www.ashley-spencer.com/ArtIsEverywhere/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Solarium_13895_620.jpg (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
Image 2: Scher, P. (no date) Victorian 1 [Online]. Available at: http://serifdechocolate.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/victorian1.jpg (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
Image 3: Scher, P. (2002) Make it bigger. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 246 - 247, illus.
Image 4: No name [Online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atn22-bmTPU (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
Image 5: Spencer, A.C. (20010) Typographic Mural [Online]. Available at: http://www.ashley-spencer.com/ArtIsEverywhere/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Solarium_13895_620.jpg (Accesed: 8 March 2011)
- Videos:
Research:
- American graphic designer, artist
- Born 1948, Washington
- Studied at Tyler school of Art, Philadelphia
- Pentagram
- well known for her microscopically detailed map paintings, densely latticed with hand-lettered text
- Leader of NY retro movement
- Amalgamation of Victoriana, Art Deco and Art Nouveau
- Clients she had - Citybank; Bloomberg; The Public Theathre; New York City Ballet; Coca-Cola
CA: You’ve also been called the leader of the New York retro movement. Do you consider yourself retro? And a leader?
PS: Well, it’s sort of a narrow definition. I guess you could characterise it that way if you had to make a caricature of it. When I was at CBS Records, I hated the Swiss international style. When I was in art school, I had teachers who praised Helvetica. I now think Helvetica is a completely beautiful typeface, but I never responded to that form of design because it lacked any kind of individual spirit.
PS: Well, it’s sort of a narrow definition. I guess you could characterise it that way if you had to make a caricature of it. When I was at CBS Records, I hated the Swiss international style. When I was in art school, I had teachers who praised Helvetica. I now think Helvetica is a completely beautiful typeface, but I never responded to that form of design because it lacked any kind of individual spirit.
What I responded to was... much more illustrative: work that came out of 1960s psychedelia, the music industry and things that were on the street. As a result, I began to search out forms and things that I didn’t typically see. Those things I came across in antique stores. I would find a Buckingham pipe tobacco can, or a jar of cold cream that had elaborate Victorian type. And of course I was marrying [Push Pin Studios cofounder] Seymour Chwast and Push Pin had a history of working with decorative fonts, so I began to work that way.
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/in_depth/interviews/paula_scher2
The national identity of countries can shift radically and at a speed that leaves their inhabitants gasping. As the United States continues to suffer from low approval ratings all over the world, Paula Scher, one of the world's leading graphic designers and a principal at Pentagram in New York, talks to Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé about how the US needs to overhaul its image, brand promise, name and messaging.
http://www.monocle.com/sections/affairs/Web-Articles/Brand-Issues---Paula-Scher-on-Brand-America/
The national identity of countries can shift radically and at a speed that leaves their inhabitants gasping. As the United States continues to suffer from low approval ratings all over the world, Paula Scher, one of the world's leading graphic designers and a principal at Pentagram in New York, talks to Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé about how the US needs to overhaul its image, brand promise, name and messaging.
http://www.monocle.com/sections/affairs/Web-Articles/Brand-Issues---Paula-Scher-on-Brand-America/
Scher has been a principal in the New York office of the distinguished international design consultancy Pentagram since 1991. She began her career as an art director in the 1970s and early ’80s, when her eclectic approach to typography became highly influential. In the mid-1990s her landmark identity for The Public Theater fused high and low into a wholly new symbology for cultural institutions, and her recent architectural collaborations have re-imagined the urban landscape as a dynamic environment of dimensional graphic design. Her graphic identities for Citibank and Tiffany & Co. have become case studies for the contemporary regeneration of classic American brands.
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-paulascher
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-paulascher
As a fine artist, Scher has also become increasingly well known for her microscopically detailed map paintings, densely latticed with hand-lettered text, that evoke not only place but the varied political, historical and cultural meanings (and preconceptions) brought to the world by the viewer.
http://www.ted.com/speakers/paula_scher.html
Scher began her career creating album covers for both Atlantic and CBS records. However, it was not long before she formed her own design company, and after only a few years there she joined Pentagram. During her career she has created memorable identities and other work for clients such as Citi Bank, Coca-Cola, the Metropolitan Opera, the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Philharmonic, among others.
She has twice been married to designer Seymour Chwast and has been a public figure in design since her early career. Her style of design communicates with contemporary audiences through the use of pop iconography, music and film. Her work has been published internationally and her contributions to the field design are numerous. Her work as a partner of Pentagram continues to inspire the new generation of designers.
http://www.designishistory.com/1980/paula-scher/
Paula Scher plunged into the New York design world in the early 1970s, a moment when progressive art directors, illustrators, and graphic designers, as well as architects and product designers, were drawing energy and ideas from the parking lots of Las Vegas, the Factory of Andy Warhol, the creative boutiques of Madison Avenue, and the tragi-comedy of the Nixon Administration. This was the nadir of the Pop movement, a period when American design, music, fashion, and fast-food had become a global vocabulary—more profoundly international than the “International Style.” From New York to London to Tokyo to LA, Helvetica was outpaced by the lascivious swashes of Herb Lubalin’s lettering and the exuberant curves, serifs, in-lines, and outlines of a veritable harem of decorative typefaces revived from the dustbins of an ornamental past.
http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1998/?id=317
http://www.ted.com/speakers/paula_scher.html
Scher began her career creating album covers for both Atlantic and CBS records. However, it was not long before she formed her own design company, and after only a few years there she joined Pentagram. During her career she has created memorable identities and other work for clients such as Citi Bank, Coca-Cola, the Metropolitan Opera, the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Philharmonic, among others.
She has twice been married to designer Seymour Chwast and has been a public figure in design since her early career. Her style of design communicates with contemporary audiences through the use of pop iconography, music and film. Her work has been published internationally and her contributions to the field design are numerous. Her work as a partner of Pentagram continues to inspire the new generation of designers.
http://www.designishistory.com/1980/paula-scher/
Paula Scher plunged into the New York design world in the early 1970s, a moment when progressive art directors, illustrators, and graphic designers, as well as architects and product designers, were drawing energy and ideas from the parking lots of Las Vegas, the Factory of Andy Warhol, the creative boutiques of Madison Avenue, and the tragi-comedy of the Nixon Administration. This was the nadir of the Pop movement, a period when American design, music, fashion, and fast-food had become a global vocabulary—more profoundly international than the “International Style.” From New York to London to Tokyo to LA, Helvetica was outpaced by the lascivious swashes of Herb Lubalin’s lettering and the exuberant curves, serifs, in-lines, and outlines of a veritable harem of decorative typefaces revived from the dustbins of an ornamental past.
http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1998/?id=317
And that fear of beige was a motivating factor from the start. Paula calls the Achievement First project "an opportunity to correct the beige mistake of my childhood," as she "always thought that schools, libraries, medical clinics, and other public institutions I inhabited were mean." Why did this dull and oppressive color scheme come to be the norm? "There is nothing more safe and boring than beige," she says, but that's precisely why she decided to go in the opposite direction for the project.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1595709/designer-paula-scher-explains-how-she-took-the-beige-out-of-a-brooklyn-charter-school
