Big Type, Big City

I recently had the opportunity to hear well-known designer Paula Scher (1948- ) speak about her love for typography and New York City and how those two passions intersected. It was a fascinating look at how environment can influence an artist. Even Paula herself admitted that much of it was unconscious and she only became aware of it in retrospect. You may not know her name but you surely have seen her work, especially if you read the New York Times or have visited the city. From the Public Theater to Jazz at Lincoln Center to the Citigroup logo, her mark is all over Manhattan.

Her new book is called "Make It Bigger," a common phrase heard by designers from their clients. In Paula's case, bigger is better. Her typography is bold, assertive, and a major element of the design. The letterforms go beyond communicating words and become design elements themselves. Many of her seminal works reflect the verticality of skyscrapers and the grid of the city streets. In fact, her work was so evocative of New York that it became its own style that was widely appropriated by other designers until it ceased to become Paula's signature. The power of Paula's work was that it was always a vital part of the design message and not an arbitrarily applied style.

Her recent work has gone beyond the printed page into the realm of environmental and architectural design through her association with Pentagram. But even in these 3-dimensional situations, the letterform remains an integral element, climbing up walls, wrapping around stairwells, and looming in giant plexiglas cases. The architecture of the letter is seamlessly joined with the architecture of the building.

She has also taken her fascination with the written word into the realm of fine art in a series of large-scale paintings that combine maps with typography. The words that fill the map with pattern are also a pointed commentary, as in the case of 'Florida 2000' which depicts the results of the Bush/Gore presidential election in visual form. This double impact of form and content lend a compelling depth to a commonplace object. The old saw goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words" but in Paula's world, a picture is a thousand words.