Paula Scher Debuts on Netflix in “Abstract”
From her office to her studio, Abstract presents an insightful side to the iconic designer.
The new, much hyped, Netflix series “Abstract” profiling designers at the forefront of their fields debuted on the 10th of this month and it is well worth a watch. Featured in one of the eight in-depth episodes is Pentagram’s Paula Scher. Although Scher is no stranger to the spotlight of design films, her episode of Abstract brings new insights to her own work, and the role of graphic design in culture in general.
““Typography can create immense power. You’re working with things that create character.””
Paula’s episode offers up a tour through her prolific body of work (including perfectly animated versions of her more iconic pieces), but this time with more insight into the personality and process that led to her design solutions. She dives into the Pentagram archives to present seldom seen sketches and copies of record covers she created during her formative early career at CBS Records. She presents behind-the-scene stories about working with clients, getting and keeping work, and how her work can be matched up with personal moments in her life.
There’s a beautiful story here that rarely gets told, profiling a woman at the height of her profession with her best work to come. Her story is made even more colorful by those who know her best including Michael Beirut, Ellen Lupton, and Seymour Chwast.
““I’m driven by the hope that I haven’t made my best work yet.””
This series, expertly produced by Scott Dadich, (previously of Wired, now at Godfrey Dadich Partners) is poised to do good things for the promotion of design and how design thinking can improve our lives. Other artists profiled in the series include Christoph Neimann, Tinker Hatfield, Es Devlin, Bjarke Ingels, Ralph Gilles, Platon, and Ilse Crawford.
All eight episodes of “Abstract” are available now to stream on Netflix.
