Essay: Paula Scher: A Pioneer in Graphic Design History and Industry Innovator

Paula Scher
Being a pioneer in an unfamiliar field is enough to receive significant recognition. Paula Scher went above and beyond being a simple graphic designer. Scher has done everything from designing to writing about graphic in the fast pace contemporary setting of technical drawing.
Paula Scher’s career started out when she graduated from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia in 1970, from that point she moved to New York city. Her first real job as a graphic designer started when she was working at CBS records, but was short lived when CBS’ competitors offered her a more creative and appealing job. Atlantic Records allowed her to really demonstrate her innovative side through Album covers. While working there she received four Grammy nominations for her work. After working for these two large mainstream companies, she decided to take a short break from the conventional advertising and design to work on the art of printing with type. She spent about five years focusing on this until she decided to partner up with Terry Koppel, who happened to be a former classmate of hers. Together they worked on different projects of graphic design including their most iconic Swatch poster. In 1991 Koppel decided it was time for them to part ways, this was when Scher was able to flourish. She was now on her own and had quite a few successful designs, this made her well known and extremely marketable. She ended up becoming a partner at the New York office of Pentagram, which is the world’s biggest design partnership. Scher was now able to do branding for some of the world’s largest companies including Citibank and Coca Cola. Her work was some of the most recognizable in the industry, in the 90’s she brought the iconic graffiti style to the theater and revolutionized shakespeare in the park.
Following Paula Scher’s momentous 90’s advertising victories she went on to write a few books based on her findings while working in the industry. Her first book was called Make it Bigger (2002) where she reveals her thoughts on the design world and divulges into her first hand experiences. This was her first piece of text and solidified the idea that she was the first bold, outspoken female graphic designer in the industry. Scher a few years later, went on to write Maps (2011) which was a collection of here work dating back to the 90’s where she began to paint maps from her perspective. This book included 39 of her paintings and goes into detail explaining why she painted what she did in each map. Schers’ paintings were eye popping and something that really captured the audience’s’ attention. These books were both published in the Princeton Architectural Press and went on to the basis of several different other books and television series.
Paula Scher has one of the most honored careers as a graphic designer, she has received hundreds of awards for her work and other accomplishments. One of the first very notable awards she received was being named to Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, where only three nominees are named per year. Following that in 2000, she earned the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design which credits some of the most important figures in modern cultural design. Then in 2001, Scher was received the highest award that you can obtain by a Graphic designer, the AIGA Medal. This was to recognize all that she had done for Graphic Design field and all of the achievements she had made in her 30-year career. In 2006, Scher then received the Type Directors Club Medal where she was the first women to accept this award.
Later in 2012, Scher received the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Design Collab Award which recognizes designers who have revolutionized the industry. In 2013 she was honored with the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Award for Communication Design, which accredits designers for their contemporary approach to design.
Paula Scher is one of the most influential graphic designers demonstrating innovation, and a modern conceptual understanding in all of her work. Scher is the only female in the industry to have made such a big impact, she has paved the way for many others including, Ellen Lupton and Jessica Walsh.