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The word “THEM” is repeated dozens of times in a white, sans-serif font across a black background. The text is scattered like stars in a night sky, with some words appearing in clusters and others isolated.

Multi-talented Paul Sahre is a man on a mission to produce quality design

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Date
23 April 2012

Intrigued as to whose voice it was narrating the design work over on karlssonwilker’s portfolio site, I was reminded of the very established graphic work of Paul Sahre. Operating a small design studio “fondly” referred to as O.O.P.S (Office of Paul Sahre), a quick look will reveal a plethora of great book works, regular illustration spots, music visuals and a sense of humour. A closer look, will uncover a number of satellite sites for his dedicated sidelines which are occasionally random but absolutely worth your time.

A case in point are Paul’s illoops! illustrations, in fact. A clever’n’sharp style that uses design tactics with photography and found imagery to create visual one-liners for The New York Times Op-ed, Book Review and Week-In-Review pages, Freakenomics and Bloomberg Businessweek (to name a few.)

It’s a vast, all round and continuously surprising body of work and, most importantly, as honest as it is great – just see the regrets section on his site.

A book cover with white text on a black background. The distorted, glitchy typography reads “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories” by “Delmore Schwartz”, with a “Preface by Lou Reed”.
Above

Paul Sahre: In Dreams Begin Responsibilities 2012, book cover design. Publisher: New Directions

A blue book cover with bold white typography. It reads “Why America Needs a Left: An Historical Argument” by “Eli Zaretsky”.
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Paul Sahre: Why America Needs A Left 2012, book cover design. Publisher: Polity

A book cover featuring a high-contrast, orange-tinted close-up of a person’s face. The title reads “A Breath of Life” by “Clarice Lispector”. A quote from Orhan Pamuk at the bottom describes Lispector as “One of the twentieth century’s most mysterious writers.”
Above

Paul Sahre: 2011, book cover design. Publisher: New Directions

A black and white illustration of three hands reaching towards each other. Jagged, star-like shapes appear where the hands meet, suggesting impact or energy.
Above

Paul Sahre: Punishing Wrongdoing on Wall Street 2011, Op-Ed letters Illustration, The New York Times

An exploded diagram of a complex mechanical device, showing various gears, springs and metallic components. The parts are labelled with letters and numbers, such as “X-1” and “E-1”, and arranged along a central vertical axis.
Above

Paul Sahre: Does Washington Need Fixing? 2010, The New York Times Week In Review

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About the Author

Bryony Quinn

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Bryony was It’s Nice That’s first ever intern and worked her way up to assistant online editor before moving on to pursue other interests in the summer of 2012.

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