Lastnightstony

Paula Scher has made some of the most remarkable work of this generation in my opinion. A partner a Pentagram, she really pushed the idea of type as graphic in her work for the Public Theatre in New York.This poster inparticular captured the Noise Funk ballet using the type as a graphic element. I know Richard Avedon took a lot of the photos for this campaign. Not sure if this is one of them. But this next one is.For how great these posters are, it is Paula Scher’s story of process that gives me faith that I too can have a career in the graphic arts. Precisely it is the story that she gives in a video made by Hillman Curtis.

See the short documentary here.

Paula describes tells a story when Citibank came to pentagram in regards to their recent acquisition of The Travelers Group. They needed a new brand identity that would let people know where Travelers had gone and that their customers would know they would still have the same service that they had before.Paula Scher says she drew this logo in the first meeting with the client. Seemingly perfect that the “t” in citi looks like the stem of an umbrella which was what the Travellers Group logo was. She with held showing this to the client because sometimes big investors want to pay for process. A process of toil and labor that only from the ashes can produce a good piece of work. Paula’s answer is simple. “It’s 34 years plus one second.” Everything she is and has done and experienced brought her to that moment, plus one second.A perfect example that we should challenge ourselves. Go out and try new things. Go somewhere different and get confused and figure things out. Live a well rounded life. You will never get that if you sit behind a desk all the time.