Paula Scher graduated from the Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1970. She then moved to New York City and began working as a layout artist in the children’s book division of Random House.

After her time there, she worked in the advertising and promotions department of CBS Records, but two years later moved to Atlantic Records, a competing label. There she was an art director and designed her first album cover. After gaining some experience there, Scher moved back to CBS Records and for eight years designed around 150 album covers a year. She revived historical fonts and design styles in her designs and even received four Grammy nominations for these.

In 1982, Paula Scher parted ways with CBS Records and became self-employed. During this time, she developed a typographic method based on Art Deco and Russian Constructivism, in which she incorporated old typefaces from these movements into her designs. Rather than imitating their style, she used their formal language.

Paula Scher’s eclectic approach to typography became very influential.

Together with her former fellow student and editorial designer Tyler Koppel, she founded “Koppel & Scher” in 1984. The two worked together for seven years. During this time, Scher designed corporate identities, book covers, advertising, and packaging.

Koppel left the company in 1991, and Scher moved to Pentagram. She started there as a partner and worked her way up to the position of art director over time.

She received a teaching position at the School of Visual Arts in New York, which she held for over twenty years. Alongside this, she occasionally taught at renowned art institutions such as Yale University, the Tyler School of Art, and Cooper Union.

Paula Scher is the author of several books, has written numerous articles for the “AIGA Journal of Graphic Design”, “Print”, “Graphis” and other publications, has a graphic design course at the “BBC Maestro”, and is part of the documentary series “Abstract: The Art of Design”.

In her work to date, she has created identity and brand systems, advertising materials, environmental graphics, packaging, and publication designs for clients such as Microsoft, Adobe, Coca-Cola, the Walt Disney Company, the New York High Line, Citibank, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Opera. Her work has been honored with over 300 awards from several international associations such as the AIGA, the Package Design Council, and the Type Directors Club and is even displayed in various museums. (kl)