Paula Scher: Eclectic Designer--from Record Covers to Swatch, Public Theater to Microsoft

By Christopher Silva

In 2012, Microsoft revealed to the public its new operating system, Windows 8. To go with their updated operating system they also showed a new logo that harkened back to their older logos appearing as actual windows. This logo gained a decent amount of attention from the public and for good reason: it was created by Paula Scher, industry veteran and the first woman principal at the design studio Pentagram.

"Paula Scher Poster" by Christopher Silva

Earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1970 from the Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, she began working for CBS Records and then for a competitor, Atlantic Records. Here she became the art director, designing her first album covers. One of her most famous covers was for the band Boston’s eponymous debut album.

She would end up leaving Atlantic Records to work on her own. During this period she developed a typographic solution based on Art deco and Russian constructivism, which incorporated outmoded typefaces into her work. However, she didn't copy the early constructivist style but used its vocabulary of form. In 1984 she co-founded Koppel & Scher with fellow graduate Terry Koppel. During this period, she created a poster that would become famous for the Swatch brand, based on the previous work by Swiss designer Herbert Matter.

In 1991, Koppel took the position of Creative Director at Esquire magazine and Scher began consulting with Pentagram Studios, eventually joining them and becoming the first woman principal.

Some of her most attention grabbing and interesting work was done in 1994 when she began working with the New York City-based Public Theater to create a new identity and promotional graphics system. Trying to appeal to a more diverse crowd and bring more public awareness and attendance to the theater, the style she created reflected street typography and graffiti-like juxtaposition. To this day, they still use the graphic style that she created with only slight alterations, as well as she’s still working closely with the theater to keep a cohesive and attention getting style.

In Scher’s own words “I was inspired by Rob Ray Kelly’s American Wood Types and the Victorian theater's poster when I created the cacophony of disparate wood typefaces, silhouetted photographs and bright flat colors.”

At age 66, her influence and work is still growing and being felt throughout the design industry. I have no doubt that her work will continue to be studied by students throughout the world. To give an example, only last semester I took a course called History of Graphic Design where we studied her.

My interest in her work goes beyond just viewing; as I work on pieces of my own, I am influenced by the principles that she used and the way she used hierarchy. After studying her accomplishments and her works, I created a poster based on her style that she used for the posters created for The Public Theater.

For more information:
www.aiga.org/medalist-paulascher/


Chistopher Silva is a junior at Saint Thomas Aquinas College, studying Graphic Design. "My interest in this field started in my second year of high school when I took a class on the subject. Ever since then, I have been studying the works of past designers to learn the techniques and hierarchy that they utilized to create effective designs."