Saul Bass

 

1920-1996 

"Saul Bass wasn’t just an artist who contributed to the first several minutes of some of the greatest movies in history; in my opinion his body of work qualifies him as one of the best film makers of this, or any other time" 

 — Steven Spielberg, 1996

A 20th Century American graphic designer, Saul Bass is really a legendary Character in design of the century especially his work with film, print and logo creation. Back in 1955 when the film "The Man with the Golden Arm" was released Saul made sure that before the movie was shown the projectionists were given the task to show the film's titles, as back then it wasn't the norm. Saul finally opened his own studio in 1950 but continued to work for big names in the film industry such as: Otto Preminger, Alfred Hichcock and Stanley Kubrick. As a designer, Saul Bass has a unique and genuine style which was a big stepping stone to visual communication in the 20th century. 

What really impressed me about Saul is his corporate logo design which was commissioned by such companies such as ATnT and Kleenex. Some particular logos created by Saul has been shown to be kept by the company for a very long time, the average lifespan of one being an incredible thirty four years. His designs caused controversy and speculation  as they were a completely new style to the competition.  

Saul's poster designs started off in Hollywood and as you can see they all have a very unique style. The basic use of color allows important information to be communicated in a better way. His use of space and overall design allows for key features such as who is actually starring in the film to be recognized by the audience easier, which back then wasn't really noticed by the general public. My favorite poster has to be Bass's Steven Spielberg's Back To The Future poster. I personally like this more then the rest of his artwork because of his use of color and perception to draw the audience into the center of the image but still achieving to the audience to notice the title first.  

Bunny Lake is missing (1965) has an interesting title sequence, designed by Bass where paper is ripped in multiple directions to reveal names. The clip can be found here. Powerful enough, the hand movements that rip the paper show that there is something hiding behind the top layer, reinforcing the plot of the film.