The Symbiotic Relationship between Design and Marketing

Paula Scher is one of the most influential graphic designers in the world. Described as the “master conjurer of the instantly familiar,” Scher straddles the line between pop culture and fine art in her work. Iconic, smart, and accessible, her images have entered into the American vernacular. Scher has developed identity and branding systems, promotional materials, environmental graphics, packaging and publication designs for a broad range of clients. In this session, Scher reflects on career-defining moments, shares her design process and explores the relationship between design and marketing.

Scher has been a partner in the New York office of Pentagram since 1991. She began her career as an art director in the 1970s and early 80s, when her eclectic approach to typography became highly influential. In the mid-1990s her landmark identity for The Public Theater fused high and low into a wholly new symbology for cultural institutions, and her recent architectural collaborations have re-imagined the urban landscape as a dynamic environment of dimensional graphic design. Her graphic identities for Citibank and Tiffany & Co. have become case studies for the contemporary regeneration of American brands.

WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Whitney Drake from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.