Paula Scher hates Helvetica. Right away I like her style since she wants to get away from what she calls “solemn” work. She wanted to create her own style by doing everything in her power to avoid using Helvetica, and in her pursuit of that goal she was doing things that she had fun with. I feel as though this notion of wanting to do something that is different from what is the norm is a great driving force behind innovation, since she was seen as a postmodernist after she had already established her style with designing album covers. Her words of “serious play” is kind of motivating, since most people are always focused on getting the job done and don’t mess around to try new ideas or techniques.

One of her instructors told her to illustrate with type, which I think is great advice. Her use of typography to create the design shows that by stepping away from the traditions and accepted views on design, someone is able to create captivating designs and maybe even influence others to follow the style created. However I do think that she is a little contradictory in some ways. She doesn’t/didn’t see the computer as a good way to design, even saying that “you don’t type design” when in reality I feel as though that idea is antiquated. Computers allow for some insane new creativity to come through, and just looking at Photoshop and the capabilities it has is enough to prove her wrong.

Paula Scher says that young designers gain a lot of experience since everything they do offer a learning experience, since they don’t really know anything. It’s a somewhat scary thought to have, since there is so much to learn about the world of design outside of school, but it’s good to know that there is a good amount of experience we as young designers can get and just how much we can achieve as we learn and do some serious play

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