Link to documentary: https://vimeo.com/210061645
Prompt:
a 400-500 word response to this prompt: What do you think is the essence of good graphic design, and what about Paula Scher's work has made her iconic amongst American graphic designers? (note: you will probably need to do a little research on other designers to fully answer this question.) Upload your response to Canvas (text file or link to process blog post, etc) for review.
Response:
Paula Scher’s work is iconic because she is able to process a large amount of information and make sense of it in a way that most people cannot. It may be argued that the lens in which she looks at the world and people is unique, driving her to create something original and potent.
She mentioned that at a young age she was influenced by the underground scene of urban music & art. I think we can see evidence of that in lots of her work. She has an edgy style that can be both chaotic and concise in the same breath. Her take on design is funky and fearless. She does not seem afraid to be “absurd” or nonsensical (in her own words) and that fearlessness rises through into her designs. Having not been truly as invested in the mainstream approach to design, I think that she probably got a glimpse of real and gritty culture in its true form. She was able to take that information and process the culture itself as the reflection of the people who were building and changing it.
I think that the ability to appreciate that kind of ground zero level of humanity can shape the way we perceive people and therefore how we interact with people. It seems to me that through her designs and her art, Paula is actually interacting back with the people that she knows and loves. It’s like she’s saying “I see you” and not afraid to express that through her work in a way that’s adventurous and intimate at the same time.
Paula seems to dwell at an intersection between information, identity, perception, and emotion within her work. When looking at her map paintings and personal projects, I felt that maybe for her, those concepts really blend together and she can make sense of the big picture while simultaneously addressing the vital structures that hold it all up. In mathematics, we call this kind of thing a Fourier Transform. She is like a mathematician that can take in a signal, transform away all the noise, and then present the underlying core frequencies in a way that makes sense to everyone.
Paula isn’t afraid to play with ideas, and look beyond the normal scope or perceived construct of a concept. Her appreciation for contemporary culture comes out in her work as well. She taps into how the natural state of this culture is change itself and finds new ways to move her audience through that. Her ability to visualize this kind of endless realm of possibilities and eagerness to involve herself is pretty profound and rare. She looks back casually at her work and doesn’t form very much attachment to it.
Paula describes her love for typography as a medium, and the subtle but powerful way that text is perceived. She seems to enjoy tapping into the raw potential that every unique project and objective brings with the information and emotion that is most essential to life in the form of font. Paula’s curiosity for expression and perception is likely hard to compete with in the design world. Her playful and bold style is certainly a rare thing to see in this world and I think that’s why it stands out from the rest.
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