Inspiration, Life and Works of Paula Scher
For nearly 4o years, Paula Scher has been an American cultural icon that has vastly influenced graphic design and has also worked as an illustrator, painter and art educator. Born on October 6, 1948 and raised in Silver Spring, MD, one of Paula's first inspirations were the aerial photographic works of her father who was a civil engineer for the US government. Since graduating from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Paula Scher has developed a highly diversified and eclectic body of work.
In 1972, the advertising and promotions department at CBS Records hired Paula, where she worked with a copywriter to create album promotion ads for trade publications such as Billboard. She left a year later to pursue more creative aspirations at Atlantic Records where she produced about 25 covers. In 1974, Scher returned to CBS as art director of the cover department, where she oversaw more than 125 covers a year and earned four Grammy nominations. Eight years later she left CBS to focus on magazine and publishing companies, and in 1984 she co-founded Koppel & Scher with her editorial designer and fellow Tyler graduate Terry Koppel. During the six years in their business, she produced identities, packaging, book jackets, and even advertising for companies such as Simon & Schuster, Random House and Holt. During this time she also designed the famous Swatch poster based on previous work by Swiss designer Herbert Matter, which generated more controversy from the design world than any of her work to date.
During the recession of 1990 the studio suffered which required Koppel to take a position as Esquire magazine. Shortly after Scher joined Pentagram as a partner in the New York office. In the years since she has produced several types of work across a range of disciplines, from environmental design, identity and branding systems to publications designs. What also makes Paula unique is that she has also worked with a diverse group of clients, from nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies.
Paula Scher has created an outstanding body of work that has been exhibited all over the world and is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Denver Art Museum, the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Her teaching career includes over two decades at the School of Visual Arts, along with positions at the Cooper Union, Yale University and the Tyler School of Art.
In 1972, the advertising and promotions department at CBS Records hired Paula, where she worked with a copywriter to create album promotion ads for trade publications such as Billboard. She left a year later to pursue more creative aspirations at Atlantic Records where she produced about 25 covers. In 1974, Scher returned to CBS as art director of the cover department, where she oversaw more than 125 covers a year and earned four Grammy nominations. Eight years later she left CBS to focus on magazine and publishing companies, and in 1984 she co-founded Koppel & Scher with her editorial designer and fellow Tyler graduate Terry Koppel. During the six years in their business, she produced identities, packaging, book jackets, and even advertising for companies such as Simon & Schuster, Random House and Holt. During this time she also designed the famous Swatch poster based on previous work by Swiss designer Herbert Matter, which generated more controversy from the design world than any of her work to date.
During the recession of 1990 the studio suffered which required Koppel to take a position as Esquire magazine. Shortly after Scher joined Pentagram as a partner in the New York office. In the years since she has produced several types of work across a range of disciplines, from environmental design, identity and branding systems to publications designs. What also makes Paula unique is that she has also worked with a diverse group of clients, from nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies.
Paula Scher has created an outstanding body of work that has been exhibited all over the world and is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Denver Art Museum, the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Her teaching career includes over two decades at the School of Visual Arts, along with positions at the Cooper Union, Yale University and the Tyler School of Art.