The Public Theater, a premier institution in the downtown Off-Broadway theater landscape in New York responsible for Shakespeare in The Park, has birthed historic works of theatrical canon including A Chorus Line, Hair, and Hamilton. Since 1993, Paula Scher has been the creative force behind this graphic identity, influencing the design landscape of Broadway and beyond.
In 2013, Scher created one unifying visual identity built out of institutional branding. Since then, The Public Theater has reinvented its brand each year, creating new challenges to tackle with a new kit of parts provided by Scher and the Pentagram team. With each brand renewal, we were presented with new ways of digging into the Knockout typeface, new graphic elements to master, and new responsibilities to assume.
2018/2019 Playbill Interior Design Materials
My time designing at The Public comprised a wide array of graphic disciplines—digital media assets, large-scale poster design, developmental decks, key art ideation, environmental signage, vinyl installations, animations, and more. Each year we built our mediums and skill sets, all with a temporary brand identity under the larger umbrella of The Public; we would take the park artwork and extend it to every applicable graphic item, and then it would renew, asking us to do it all over again.
Pictured, Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Gospel at Colonus Park Signage, Shakespeare in The Park 2018 Gate Signage, SITP Staff T-Shirt Designs, and Gospel At Colonus New York Times advertisement
Animated transition slides for Vanguard Residency 2018 Honoree, Judy Collins
Shakespeare In The Park 2019 Signage Suite
Three-level Stairwell Installation, "The Vagrant Trilogy"
Joe's Pub Promotional Animation
Creative Direction: Paula Scher
Art Direction, 2017-2018: Kirstin Huber & Kameron Neal
Art Direction, 2018-2020: Tam Shell
Jr. Designers, 2018-2020: Ze Wang, Christian Martin