design legends you should know #5 Paula Scher

Paula Scher is a painter, album covers, educator, layout artist and renowned graphic designer.

Her Work Through The Years

With a start at the Tyler School of Art, Scher graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in 1970. She then became a layout artist at the children’s division at Random House. Switching gears, she worked at CBS and then Atlantic Records. Her album covers received four Grammy nominations.

In the 80’s she sought out freelance graphic design, before starting a firm in 1984 with Tyler Koppel. The firm dissolved during the recession and Scher went to work for the design firm, Pentagram, in 1991. Currently, she is the principal at Pentagram.

As well as working Pentagram, Scher taught at the School of Visual Arts, Tyler School of Art, Yale, and Cooper Union.

Iconic Work

What put Scher on the map, was her identity creation for the Public Theater in New York City. Through her unique, graffiti-inspired typography, Scher was able to inspire the graphic design world.

Other notable logo designs are Tiffany and Co., Citibank, Windows, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Album Covers

That’s really just a snippet of her expansive portfolio. Here’s a great book of her work! Preview it here.

Sources

• https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/paula-scher
• https://www.pentagram.com/about/paula-scher