Scher’s groundbreaking identity and graphic campaign for The Public Theater in New York set a new bar for typography in the 1990s. Using unorthodox spacing, mixing font weights, and employing uncommon and historic typefaces, Scher’s poster presents information in a dynamic, expressive way. This eclectic, irreverent approach, which fuses high– and lowbrow, signals Scher’s affiliation with the postmodern, or New Wave, graphic designers of the 1980s and 1990s, who rejected modernism’s restrained aesthetic. Scher’s identity for The Public Theater places emphasis on the word “public” to position the institution as an affordable and accessible venue for all.
Gallery label from Designing Modern Women 1890–1990, October 5, 2013–October 1, 2014.