Dynamic Brand Identity: Designing Logos That Evolve
Paula Scher · Partner at Pentagram
Paula Scher walks through 20 years of real branding decisions, not abstract theory
What you will learn
- How to research a client by asking decision-makers to describe the organization in one sentence and comparing answers
- How to present a range of design solutions from conservative to radical so a client reveals their real risk tolerance
- How to build a simple 'kit of parts' (logo, type system, color palette) that can extend across signage, digital, and architecture without becoming unrecognizable
- How to test whether a system has stretched too far using an IQ-test 'which one doesn't belong' check
- How to redraw or update a logo over years while keeping it recognizable as the same identity
Standout ideas
- The 'liquid identity' concept: designing a flexible kit of parts rather than a single fixed logo, so the system can be stretched across media without breaking
- Diagnosing why organizations rebrand: either their existing identity is failing them, or they're undergoing a major internal shift, and everything else is secondary
- Reusing an existing typeface family (as with the Philadelphia Museum of Art) to avoid forcing costly signage replacement across an entire building
Best for: Intermediate-to-advanced graphic designers and branding professionals who want to see how a single identity system is built, tested, and evolved over decades on real institutional clients.
This is a masterclass built almost entirely on case studies, walking through the Public Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art in enough depth to show how design decisions actually got made and revised over years. It offers little step-by-step software instruction or beginner-level technique, so it rewards someone who already understands logo design and wants to see high-level strategic thinking in action rather than a tutorial.