Paula Scher’s 10 Rules for Play | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)
Paula Scher argues that creative “play” comes from freeing the mind to make unexpected connections between existing ideas, not from inventing something completely original. Her approach combines deliberate mental wandering, exposure to history and other disciplines, supportive collaborations, and a willingness to reject trends. The goal is to create conditions where designers can experiment and initiate new directions. ## Creating Space for Ideas - Meet the client, understand the brief, then do a mindless task such as cleaning to clear mental space. - Look through design-history books broadly, without copying or bookmarking ideas; begin the project later. - Use boring or uncomfortable situations—waiting rooms, traffic, offline flights—as opportunities to sketch and let the mind wander. ## Building Conditions for Play - Nurture long-term relationships that allow creative freedom, such as Scher’s decades-long work with the New York Public Theater. - Maintain a healthy mix of projects, support the team, and encourage people to question assumptions. - Treat better work as a way to raise expectations and generate even better work. - Recognize that genuine opportunities to experiment are rare, and consider pro-bono or low-paid projects as spaces for discovery. ## Escaping Familiar Influences - Change tools and leave the computer behind. - Visit bookstores, museums, galleries, or shops, and explore disciplines unrelated to the current project. - Accept that all creative work is influenced by something else; originality comes partly from how influences are combined and from avoiding passing trends. - Avoid mood boards when they merely encourage producing a slightly altered version of existing marketplace styles. ## Starting New Directions - Initiate your own creative “cluster” by doing something daring. - Design trends often become ordinary when others imitate the first bold example, so innovation requires being willing to go first. Designers can cultivate play by creating distance from routine, seeking varied experiences, and protecting relationships and projects that enable experimentation rather than imitation.