Saul Bass

Graphic designer and film maker Saul Bass was mainly well known for the film posters and title sequences he designed. Bass worked for some of the greatest film makers in Holly wood such as Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Martin Scorsese and Otto Preminger for whom he created the title sequence "the man with the golden arm " in 1955 whcih made him famous. Bass also invented a new type of kinetic typograph and some of the most iconic logosd for corporate companies in North America such as AT 4T "bell" logo in 1969 and "globe", "jetstream" for continental Airlines and "tulip" for United Airlines.

At the end of his 40 year career James L Brookes and Martin Scorsese urged Bass to return to 'main title design'

Before he became a film make Bass was an excellent graphic designer. He was in 1920 in the Bronx, New York and as a child was very creative always drawing. He studied at the Arts Students League in New York. In Brooklyn College he was tutured by Gyorgy Kepes a hungarian designer who introduced Bass to Moholy's Bauhaus style and Russian Constructivism. He then worked as an apprentice with Manhattan design films and later became a freelance graphic designer. In 1950 he opened his own studio in Los Angeles and worked mainly  in advertising until he was asked to design a  poster by Preminger for his 1954 movie Carmen Jones. The result inpressed Preminger and this led him to ask Bass to create the film's title sequence.

Bass was elicited other commisions for titles after his success of his design Carmen Jones however it was Premingers next project "The Man with the Golden Arm" that made Bass "the doyen of the film title design".

During the next ten years he used his talent to create an animated mini movie "Around the World in 80 days" as well as a tearful eye for Premingers 1958 Bonjour Tristesse. Bass talent in design was described by Martin Scorsese as 'an emblematic image, instantly recognisable and immediately tied to the film'. Bass and his second wife Elaine created excellent titles for other directions. After directing a series of short films in 1968, 'why man creates' which were Oscar winning he went on to dirct Phase IV but when this was a flop he returned to commercial graphic design. Saul Bass was a cinema legend whom young film directors dreamed to work with.

Bass’ poster designs for The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and Vertigo (1958)

Bibliography

Bigman, A., 2012. Saul Bass: the man who changed graphic design. [Online]
Available at: http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/06/12/saul-bass-graphic-designer-of-a-century/