Saul Bass El Paso Museum of Art January 18–May 2, 2013
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DESIGN IS THINKING MADE VISUAL
ith the end of the Second World War, America was looking to revitalize the country in a way that expressed its artistic and multi-cultural values. By the 1950’s American design began to rise to international prominence. New York City was dubbed the unofficial home for a new generation of designers. Here, they were free to explore their horizons and revolutionize the concept of American design. One such innovator was Saul Bass, who’s image centric and concept driven design made him a notable graphic designer, filmmaker, illustrator and photographer. To this day, his work continues to influence people by sustaining the conveyance of a strong graphic power. Saul Bass was born on May 8, 1920, in the Bronx, New York. He studied part-time at the Art Students League and later attended classes at Brooklyn College.
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Film Industry Bass moved to Los Angeles in 1950 where, two years later, he opened his own studio. He started out working on print work for film ads through which he met film director Otto Preminger. It was Preminger who commissioned Bass to design the film poster for his 1954 movie Carmen Jones. Preminger enjoyed Bass’ work so much he asked him to also produce the title sequence for the film. This opportunity sparked something in Bass to reevaluate the importance of the opening and ending sequences of a film. In fact, he felt they could be made to be as important as the film itself. The film industry in the 1950s was dominated by posters featuring portraits of the actors or scenes
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from the movie. Bass’ film posters brought a new style of film advertising and earned him the reputation of an exciting designer. His strong, bold imagery and typography grabbed the attention of the viewer while still giving a sense of emotion and meaning. The elemental force of his posters was a strong energy and the indication of a more in depth meaning to the film. In his design for The Man with the Golden Arm, Bass uses the cut-out of a jagged arm. Using uneven rectangles and shaky type, conveyed a message about the main character’s battle with heroin addiction. The placement of the type with image became a signature design style Bass would incorporate in his work to come. Bass used freely drawn or hand cut images and type to create a casual and minimalistic look that never lacked strong graphic impact or meaning.
Clockwise (left to right) The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Two of Us (1967), Exodus (1960), Vertigo (1958), The Man with the Golden Arm title sequence (1955)
Another notable poster by Bass was for the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock film, Vertigo. The poster displays the two main characters being sucked down into a vortex hole of sorts. This expressed the disarray and paranoia of the film. He again uses hand cut type to create the title at the bottom and the actors’ names at the top, justified left. Bass’ poster for Exodus enables the viewer to immediately be aware that the film is about the struggles of war and pain. He once again uses the black cut-outs of arms, which are reaching for the rifle, to express war. The poster was lit on fire from the bottom and a picture was taken of it as the flames progressively burn upwards toward the type and the image. The negative space at the top of the poster makes it seem that the people holding up the rifle are falling down to burn. More examples of his early film posters include: Anatomy of a Murder (1959), One, Two, Three (1961), The Two of Us (1967), and Such Good Friends (1971) to name a few. In addition to film posters and company logos, Bass also set his design skills upon producing movie title sequences. He revolutionized kinetic typography in his title sequences by using an animation technique which mixes motion and text to express ideas using video animation. Bass believed one must “try to reach for a simple visual phrase that tells you what the picture is about and evokes the essence of the story.” His first title sequence was for The Man with the Golden Arm. It starts with one bar dropping down onto the screen followed by three more, then when all four reach the center, typography appears showing the actors in the movie. Then four bars sweep in from all directions to showcase the title of the movie. The final sequence shows the bars transforming into the pictographic logo of the arm from the movie’s poster. To accompany almost all the movie posters that he designed, Bass produced the title sequences as well as prologues. Bass designed the iconic shower sequence in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Bass also aided Stanley Kubrick in creating the final battle scene in Spartacus. It is safe to say he enjoyed filmmaking just as much as he did design. In 1968 Bass directed Why Man Creates, which was a short documentary showcasing the different varieties of the design process.
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Saul Bass’s later career took a corporate turn with his iconic corporate identity logos. His design of the Girl Scouts logo is a strong example of procuring an identity that helps give greater meaning to the organization. The logo consists of three girls in profile, facing right, the two on the ends are green while the one in the middle is white. The image shows a strong sense of flow from one face to the next without seeming to stack on top of one another. The logo existed in its original form from 1978 up until
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2010. Bass also designed the logo for AT&T in 1969 then later redid the logo in 1983. Dixie plate ware also commissioned Bass for their logo, which is still used in today. One of his strongest designs for a logo is for United Way, a non-profit organization. It shows a hand holding a human-like figure in its palm. The figure has its arms spread open as if embracing the rays of light above. He designed other iconic logos such as: United Airlines, Minolta, General Foods, Celanese, Rockwell International, Boys Club, Warner Communications, Japan Energy Corporation and YWCA.
Top to Bottom: Bell Telephone Co. (1969), Girl Scouts (1978), United Way (1972)
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Clockwise (left to right) Minolta (1978), KosĂŠ (1991), Minami (1991), Warner Communications (1974), Kibun (1984)
try to reach for a simple visual phrase that tells you what the picture is about and evokes the essence of the story
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Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
Later in his career he continued to work with film directors in creating iconic movie posters and film sequences. Although he was known for his synthesis of form and style, the energy his work exuded was always new and innovative. Another memorable film poster he designed was for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. The title of the movie and the image act as one as the face of fear is set inside the text. Even in this later work, he continues to use his hand cut style typography.
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Clockwise (left to right) Schindler’s List (1993), The Shining (1980), Filmex (1985)
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During his career, Bass acquired numerous awards for his achievements in the design and film industry as well. He was an honorary member of the Royal Designer’s Industry, Royal Society of Arts, England and citation for Distinction Brought to the Profession from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Bass was inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1977 and he also received a AIGA Gold Medal. His film Why Man Creates won an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. Many of his works are included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Library of Congress; The Prague Museum; Czechoslovakia and many more.
Mad Men (2007)
Saul Bass’ work continues to impact the contemporary design. He has influenced many not only through his designs but through his sheer ambition and creativity. There are many examples today that are obviously influenced by Bass’ work. The poster for the movie Clockers which uses influence from the body figure in Anatomy of a Murder but with bullet holes. So much so in fact, that the designer was sued by Bass. Another notable influence from Bass is seen in the opening sequence to the television Clockers (1995)
show Mad Men, which uses the two-dimensional figures made popular by Bass. There are many more examples of how Bass has influenced modern design and judging by his ever present popularity, there undoubtedly will be many more to come.
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