Project Overview:

I was asked to make a set of three posters that reflected the style of a famous designer for a museum showcase. The set should include three different kinds of posters. First a typography only poster, second a poster with something I had created and/or taken a photo of, and third a collage of the designers work.

I chose to research and reflect the work of Paula Scher, an influential graphic designer who is known for her work in album covers, Theatre posters, hand painted maps, and for being an educator of design. I found her inspiring and wanted to know more. How better to learn about a designer than to try to create something in their style through deep research.

Research:

I did a lot of research including watching interviews, reading articles, and just looking through her incredible work that's available online. I chose some favorites that inspired ideas for my museum posters and ran with it.

Sketches and Ideation:

Research is a constant ongoing process. As I went back and forth between sketching and researching I created some ideas for what directions I wanted to pursue with my posters. I created a word web to help generate more ideas and then set to sketching them out. I then wrote out why I thought some of the ideas were the most substantial and how I would execute them. I showed my designs to other designers to get feedback on which ones they also felt were strongest. These are the red marked sketches.

Photograph Experiments:

Here are a few of the many many experiments I created and had photographed. I tried things that reminded me of specific pieces and others that loosely related to others. 

Digital Concept Experiments: 

Finally I started working to put things together on the computer. I used illustrator and indesign to start creating my poster concepts. This included taking things I had created and altering them to fit my poster ideas. 

These are just a few of many many ideas I fleshed out, looking for the top three solutions.

Collage Concept Development:

Here is the evolution of my collage poster from conception phase to final product. There were many concepts in-between, but these show the greatest progression.

Typography Concept Development:

Here is the evolution of my typography poster from conception phase to final product. There were many concepts in-between, but these show the greatest progression.

Photography Concept Development:

Here is the evolution of my photography poster from conception phase to final product. There were many concepts in-between, but these show the greatest progression.

Let's Review:

Here are a few of the pieces that influenced my design choices and helped me design my design interpretation posters for the invented Paula Scher showcase. I used the movement found in all of these posters to create similar movement. I also found the power of overlapping, alignment, negative space, typography, rotation, and color to be great strengths in creating something similar to Paula Scher's design.

Final Poster Concepts:

Conclusion:

I found so much power in the research and understanding of a great designer. I learned so much about why Paula Scher makes specific design choices. I also learned that we can't know everything about how a designer works. That is the purpose of having many different designers on a single team. They all work and function independently, and see great design in different ways. This is a great strength to a company. 

I also learned the power of mimicking a great designer. You learn new methods, techniques, and truly how little you know. It also inspires you to learn more. I wanted to dive into design so much harder when I finished this project because it brought to light so many things I hadn't understood before. Such as why designers develop a style, how color can be used for impact, how type can be manipulated and still legible, and how motion in a piece helps a viewers eye travel to the correct areas of a piece at the right time.