What They Don’t Teach You in Design School
Paula Scher on the Real Value of Design
Another thing they don’t teach you in design school is what you get paid for…
Mostly, designers get paid to negotiate the difficult terrain of individual egos, expectations, tastes, and aspirations of various individuals in an organization or corporation, against business needs, and constraints of the marketplace…
Getting a large, diverse group of people to agree on a single new methodology for all of their corporate communications means the designer has to be a strategist, psychiatrist, diplomat, showman, and even a Svengali. The complicated process is worth money. That’s what clients pay for.
— Paula Scher
Strategist
Psychiatrist
Diplomat
Showman
Svengali
About Paula Scher
Paula Scher is one of the most influential graphic designers in the world. She has been a principal in the New York office of Pentagram since 1991 and has designed identity and branding systems for numerous major clients including Citibank, Microsoft, and The Public Theater.