New York, NY (January 16, 2018)—The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce that AIGA Medal and National Design Award-winner Paula Scher designed the official celebratory poster for National Poetry Month, April 2018. Each year the organization distributes a poster free-of-charge to over 100,000 schools, libraries, and bookstores nationwide for their April celebrations.
Scher was selected by 2016 National Poetry Month poster designer Debbie Millman, who said, “Paula Scher is one of the most famous designers in the world. She has created graphic design for some of the most important and influential organizations in the world. This makes her the perfect pick to design the 2018 National Poetry Month poster for the Academy of American Poets.”
National Poetry Month, created and organized by the Academy of American Poets, is the largest literary celebration in the world with millions of people celebrating poetry in their communities each April. The Academy of American Poets provides special lesson plans for teachers during the month, promotes local events, and distributes the official National Poetry Month poster through partnerships with the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English. The poster is also available for free upon request on the organization’s website, Poets.org.
About Paula Scher
For four decades Paula Scher has been at the forefront of graphic design. Described as the “master conjurer of the instantly familiar,” Scher straddles the line between pop culture and fine art in her work. Iconic, smart, and accessible, her images have entered into the American vernacular.
Scher has been a partner in the New York City office of Pentagram since 1991. Her graphic identities for Citibank and Tiffany & Co. have become case studies for the contemporary regeneration of American brands. During the course of her career Scher has been the recipient of hundreds of industry honors and awards.
Her work has been exhibited all over the world and is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
About Debbie Millman
Named “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, and “one of the most creative people working in business” by Fast Company, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, brand strategist and host of the podcast Design Matters. Debbie’s written and visual essays have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Print Magazine, Design Observer and Fast Company. She is the author of two books of illustrated essays: Look Both Ways and Self-Portrait As Your Traitor; the later of which has been awarded a Gold Mobius, a Print Typography Award, and a medal from the Art Directors Club. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Boston Biennale, Chicago Design Museum, Anderson University, School of Visual Arts, Long Island University, The Wolfsonion Museum and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art.
About the Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. The organization produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly funded website for poets and poetry; National Poetry Month; the popular Poem-a-Day series; American Poets magazine; Teach This Poem and other resources for K-12 educators; and an annual series of poetry readings and special events.
The Academy of American Poets is part of a national poetry coalition working together to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.