IN CONVERSATION
COMPUTERARTS.CREATIVEBLOQ.COMTo answer your question it might
take another 300 pages. The
short answer is I think I’m trying
to understand why I’m a graphic
designer. I also feel like graphic
design is misunderstood – by
non-designers, but also by many
designers. I don’t see it as a job. It’s
a discipline. A calling. It’s who I am.
It’s not something I can turn off at
6pm every day. I’m a designer when
I’m designing, but I’m also a designer
while I watch a movie or walk down
the street or when I’m shooting free
throws or eating breakfast.Do you turn down jobs because they
don’t fit with this ideology?
Oh sure. As designers we are
responsible for the work we do and
who we do it for. One thing I don’t
want to participate in, another
designer might, and that’s totally
fine. You have to follow your own
moral code. Sometimes that gets lost.D
esign is not a job for
Paul Sahre; it’s an
identity. He’s gained
respect in the industry
for forging a creative
path driven largely by
passion, rather than
power or finances,
and is best known for
his innovative and
unexpected book covers, his graphic
work for the New York Times, and
that time he created – and blew up –
a life-sized cardboard monster truck
hearse (more on that later).
Today, Sahre’s a successful sole
practitioner, but the journey hasn’t
always been smooth. Here, he speaks
about the highs and lows of working
alone, the struggle between money
and ethics, and why the digital shift
has been a blessing in disguise for
book cover design.Why did you get into graphic design
in the first place?
I started my career thinking I was
going to change the world. It’s not
turned out that way. There are many
other things you can do with your
life if that’s your main motivation.
So... why be a graphic designer? It
gives me a sense of purpose and
meaning. It’s a calling – it’s what you
do and who you are. And it’s survival.
It’s like breathing. It keeps you alive.
There are times when we have
control over it and are aware of our
breathing, and there are times where
it’s a reflex. Is it even a choice?You’ve written a memoir of your
experiences in the design world:
Two-Dimensional Man. What
prompted you to do this?It’s not just a mechanical, problem-
solving thing and I’m a robot and
whatever is put in front of me I figure
out and design. Talk about making it
easy to be replaced!
You could probably make a lot
more money than I do if you took on
projects for a different reason, but
we all have to sleep at night. And I
learned that the hard way in my first
job. This firm I worked for did a lot
of military, industrial complex stuff,
and it really freaked me out. It was a
soul-searching thing. There was very
much a sense of, “I have to do this,
it’s my job” and I should be able to
just put that aside. But I’ve since
learned that’s just crazy. You can’t
just do that.How does being so immersed in
design affect the rest of your life?
I do think there’s a fundamental
disconnect in design. It’s for the
most part an altruistic activity –This page:
published in 2018,
Two-Dimensional
Man examines
Paul Sahre’s
experiences over
30 years in design.
Opposite: Sahre’s
a tongue-in-cheek
look at the future
of art, created for
the Wall Street
Journal’s 2016
Future of
Everything
Festival.
PAUL SAHRE has operated his own independent
practice, The Office of Paul Sahre (known as O.O.P.S.), since
- He’s best known for his book cover designs and
illustrations for the New York Times. Paul also teaches and
lectures about graphic design, and has written a monograph/
autobiography entitled Two-Dimensional Man.
http://www.paulsahre.com
“I’M A DESIGNER WHEN I’M DESIGNING,
BUT I’M ALSO A DESIGNER WHILE I
WATCH A MOVIE OR TAKE A WALK”