I don't think of design as a job. I think of it as - and I hate to use this term for it - more of a calling. If you're just doing it because it's a nice job and you want to go home and do something else, then don't do it, because nobody needs what you're going to make.

Paula Scher

Categorized in : Jobs Hate Nice

Words have meaning, type has spirit. by Paula Scher

Words have meaning, type has spirit.

type spirit

It's through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get... by Paula Scher

It's through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good.

technology mistake order

The job of the designer is to make things understandable, usable, accessible, enjoyable... important to a public, that involves the public.

designer important jobs

It took me a few seconds to draw it, but it took me 34 years to learn how to draw it in a few seconds.

draws design years

The best way to accomplish serious design ... is to be totally and completely unqualified for the job.

motivational inspirational jobs

My work is play. And I play when I design. I even looked it up in the dictionary, to make sure that I actually do that, and the definition of “play,” number one, was “engaging in a childlike activity or endeavor,” and number two was “gambling.” And I realize I do both when I’m designing.

gambling play two

Design is the art of planning, and it is the art of making things... by Paula Scher

Design is the art of planning, and it is the art of making things possible.

planning design art

Find out what the next thing is that you can push, that you can invent, that you can be ignorant about, that you can be arrogant about, that you can fail with, and that you can be a fool with. Because in the end, that's how you grow.

ignorant motivation inspiration

The goal of design is to raise the expectation of what design can... by Paula Scher

The goal of design is to raise the expectation of what design can be

design goal expectations

Be culturally literate, because if you don't have any understanding of the world you live in and the culture you live in, you're not going to express anything to anybody else.

design understanding culture

The work needs to get out of your head and on to the table, and i... by Paula Scher

The work needs to get out of your head and on to the table, and it needs to be done from the heart.

design heart needs

If I get up every day with the optimism that I have the capacity for growth, then that’s success for me.

get-up optimism growth

Creativity isn't about the advantage or disadvantage of a specific time or culture. Creativity is something that comes internally from a human being having a genuine mistrust of rules. And that may be the constant. It's almost like there's some rebellion in it.

creativity may culture

Having no purpose is the function of art, so somebody else can look at it and ask a question. Design is different - you're supposed to understand what's going on. You can be delighted by it, intrigued by it, but you're supposed to know it's a hot dog stand.

design dog art

Design exists to serve some purpose. by Paula Scher

Design exists to serve some purpose.

design purpose

Identities are the beginning of everything. They are how something is recognized and understood. What could be better than that?

understood identity

Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag? by Paula Scher

Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?

flags names window

Great design is serious, not solemn by Paula Scher

Great design is serious, not solemn

great-design design serious

Art has no purpose. It exists for its own sake. by Paula Scher

Art has no purpose. It exists for its own sake.

purpose sake art

Beige is the color of indecision. by Paula Scher

Beige is the color of indecision.

indecision color