Saul Bass (; May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was an American

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture

title sequence A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an op ...

film poster A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...

s, and corporate logos. During his 40-year career, Bass worked for some of Hollywood's most prominent filmmakers, including

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( ; ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the the ...

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

, and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

. Among his best known

s are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict's arm for Preminger's ''

The Man with the Golden Arm ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' is a 1955 American independent drama film noir directed by Otto Preminger, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren. Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren Mc ...

'', the credits racing up and down what eventually becomes a high-angle shot of a skyscraper in Hitchcock's ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...

'', and the disjointed text that races together and apart in '' Psycho''. Bass designed some of the most iconic corporate logos in North America, including the

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

logo in 1980, the

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

"swirling star" logo in 1979, the sixth and final version of the

Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the AT&T Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America fo ...

logo in 1969, as well as

AT&T Corporation AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

's first globe logo in 1983 after the

breakup of the Bell System The Bell System held a virtual monopoly over telephony infrastructure in the United States since the early 20th century until January 8, 1982. This divestiture of the Bell Operating Companies was initiated in 1974 when the United States Departme ...

. He also designed

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

' 1968 jet stream logo,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

' 1974 tulip logo (which became some of the most recognized airline industry logos of the era) and the 1972

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

"Big W" logo (which is WB's second most recognizable logo after the classic WB shield; currently also used as the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

logo). He died from

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tire ...

in Los Angeles on April 25, 1996, at the age of 75.

Early life

Saul Bass was born on May 8, 1920, in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York, United States, to Eastern European Jewish immigrant parents. He graduated from James Monroe High School in

and studied part-time at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

in Manhattan until attending night classes with

György Kepes György Kepes (; October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, t ...

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

. In 1938, Saul married Ruth Cooper and they had two children, Robert in 1942 and Andrea in 1946. He began his time in Hollywood in the 1940s, designing print advertisements for films including ''

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

'' (1949), ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

'' (1951) and '' The Moon Is Blue'' (1953), directed by Otto Preminger. His next collaboration with Preminger was to design a

for his 1954 film '' Carmen Jones''. Preminger was so impressed with Bass's work that he asked him to produce the title sequence as well. This was when Bass first saw the opportunity to create a title sequence which would ultimately enhance the experience of the audience and contribute to the mood and the theme of the movie within the opening moments. Bass was one of the first to realize the creative potential of the opening and closing credits of a movie.

Film title sequences

Bass became widely known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for

's ''

'' (1955). The subject of the film was a jazz musician's struggle to overcome his

heroin addiction Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. ...

, a taboo subject in the mid-1950s. Bass decided to create an innovative

to match the film's controversial subject. He chose the arm as the central image, as it is a strong image relating to heroin addiction. The titles featured an animated, white on black paper cut-out arm of a heroin addict. As he hoped, it caused a sensation. For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass provided effective, memorable title sequences, inventing a new type of kinetic typography, for ''

'' (1959), ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

'' (1958), working with John Whitney, and '' Psycho'' (1960). It was this kind of innovative, revolutionary work that made Bass a revered

. Before the advent of Bass's title sequences in the 1950s, titles were generally static, separate from the movie, and it was common for them to be projected onto the cinema curtains, the curtains only being raised right before the first scene of the movie. In 1960, Bass wrote an article for ''Graphis'' magazine called "Film Titles – a New Field for the Graphic Designer," which has been revered as a milestone for "the consecration of the movie credit sequence as a design object." One of the most studied film credit designers, Bass is known for integrating a stylistic coherence between the designs and the films in which they appear. Bass once described his main goal for his title sequences as being to "try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story". Another philosophy that Bass described as influencing his title sequences was the goal of getting the audience to see familiar parts of their world in an unfamiliar way. Examples of this or what he described as "making the ordinary extraordinary" can be seen in '' Walk on the Wild Side'' (1962) where an ordinary cat becomes a mysterious prowling predator, and in ''

Nine Hours to Rama ''Nine Hours to Rama'' is a1963 British-American neo noir crime film directed by Mark Robson (film director), Mark Robson that follows a fictionalised Nathuram Godse in the hours before he Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated the India ...

'' (1963) where the interior workings of a clock become an expansive new landscape. In the 1950s, Saul Bass used a variety of techniques, from cut-out animation for ''

Anatomy of a Murder ''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American legal drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under ...

'' (1958), to fully animated mini-movies such as the epilogue for the

Best Picture Oscar The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the Film producer, producers ...

winner '' Around the World in 80 Days'' (1956), and live-action sequences. On occasion, Bass' title sequences were said to outshine the films they introduced. When Billy Wilder's ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the screenplay with George Axelrod. Based on Axelrod's 1952 The Seven Year Itch (play), play of the same name, the film stars Marilyn Monroe ...

'' (1955) was released, a film critic wrote, "If the film had lived up to the titles, it would have been a good picture." In reviewing ''A Walk on the Wild Side'' (1962), more than half of New York Critics claimed that Bass' titles were better than the film itself. In 1962, Variety even suggested that Bass might no longer find work in the title field since there has been too frequent the use of the line: "The best thing about the film is the Saul Bass credits." In 1955, Elaine Makatura came to work with Bass in his Los Angeles office. With the opening to ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'' (1960), she was directing and producing title sequences, and in 1961 the couple married, beginning more than 30 years of close collaboration. After the birth of their children, Jennifer in 1964 and Jeffrey in 1967, they concentrated on their family, film directing, and title sequences. Saul and Elaine designed title sequences for more than 30 years, continuously experimenting with a variety of innovative techniques and effects, from

Bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or (puppeteers), the (chanters) ...

-style maneuvers in ''Spartacus'' (1960), live-action sequences in ''Walk on the Wild Side'' (1962), to time-lapse photography in '' The Age of Innocence'' (1993), and even chopped liver in '' Mr. Saturday Night'' (1992). Their live-action opening title sequences often served as prologues to their films and transitioned seamlessly into their opening scenes. These "time before" title sequences either compress or expand time with startling results. The title sequence to '' Grand Prix'' (1966) portrays the moments before the opening race in Monte Carlo, the title sequence to ''

The Big Country ''The Big Country'' is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler, and starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Charles Bickford. The supporting cast features Burl Ives and Chuck Connors. F ...

'' (1958) depicts the days it takes a stage coach to travel to a remote Western town, and the opening montage title sequence to ''

The Victors "The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan. Michigan student Louis Elbel wrote the song in 1898 after the football team's victory over the University of Chicago, which clinched an undefeated season and the Western Conferen ...

'' (1963) chronicles the twenty-seven years between World War I and the middle of World War II, where the film begins. From the mid-1960s to the late '80s, Saul and Elaine moved away from main titles to focus on filmmaking and their children. About this time away from title design, Saul said: In the 1980s, Saul and Elaine were rediscovered by James L. Brooks and

, who had grown up admiring their film work. For Scorsese, Saul and Elaine Bass created title sequences for '' Goodfellas'' (1990), '' Cape Fear'' (1991), '' The Age of Innocence'' (1993), and ''

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

'' (1995), their last title sequence. This later work with

saw the Basses move away from the optical techniques that Saul had pioneered and move into the use of computerized effects. The Basses' title sequences featured new and innovative methods of production and startling

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

. Screenwriter

Nicholas Pileggi Nicholas Pileggi (, ; born February 22, 1933) is an American author and screenwriter. He wrote the 1985 non-fiction book ''Wiseguy (book), Wiseguy'' and co-wrote the screenplay for ''Goodfellas'', its 1990 film adaptation, for which he received ...

said of Saul and Elaine Bass, "You write a book of 300 to 400 pages and then you boil it down to a script of maybe 100 to 150 pages. Eventually you have the pleasure of seeing that the Basses have knocked you right out of the ballpark. They have boiled it down to four minutes flat." In a sense, all modern opening title sequences that introduce the mood or theme of a film can be seen as a legacy of the Basses' innovative work. In particular, title sequences for some recent movies and television series, especially those whose setting is during the 1960s, have purposely emulated the graphic style of Saul Bass's animated sequences from the 1950s. Some examples of title sequences that pay homage to Bass's graphics and animated title sequences are ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in ...

'' (2002), '' X-Men: First Class'' (2011), and the openings to the AMC series ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' and TBS's '' Conan''.

Selected film title sequences

* '' Carmen Jones'' (1954) * ''

The Big Knife ''The Big Knife'' is a 1955 American melodrama film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the 1949 play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod S ...

'' (1955) * ''

'' (1955) * '' The Racers'' (1955) * ''

'' (1955) * '' The Shrike'' (1955) * ''

Around the World in Eighty Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate ...

'' (1956) * '' Storm Center'' (1956) * '' Attack'' (1956) * '' Johnny Concho'' (1956) * '' Edge of the City'' (1957) * '' Saint Joan'' (1957) * ''

The Pride and the Passion ''The Pride and the Passion'' is a 1957 American Napoleonic-era war film in Technicolor and VistaVision from United Artists, produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Sophia Loren. The film co-stars ...

'' (1957) * '' The Young Stranger'' (1957) * ''

Bonjour Tristesse ''Bonjour Tristesse'' () is a novel by Françoise Sagan. Published in 1954, when the author was only 18, it was an overnight sensation. The title is derived from a poem by Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée", which begins with the lines "Adieu ...

'' (1958) * ''

Cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

'' (1958) * ''

'' (1959) * ''

'' (1959) * '' Psycho'' (1960) * ''

'' (1960) * '' The Facts of Life'' (1960) * '' Exodus'' (1960) * ''

Ocean's 11 ''Ocean's 11'' is a 1960 American heist film directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. The film stars an ensemble cast a ...

'' (1960) * ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'' (1961) * '' Something Wild'' (1961) * ''

Advise & Consent ''Advise & Consent'' is a 1962 American political drama film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''Advise and Consent'' by Allen Drury, published in 1959. The film was adapted for the screen by Wendell Mayes and was directed by Otto P ...

'' (1962) * '' Walk on the Wild Side'' (1962) * ''

'' (1963) * ''

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American Technicolor epic comedy film in Ultra Panavision 70 produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by William and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all ...

'' (1963) * ''

The Cardinal ''The Cardinal'' is a 1963 American drama film produced independently, directed by Otto Preminger and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel by the same by Henry Morton Robinson. The ...

'' (1963) * '' In Harm's Way'' (1965) * '' Bunny Lake Is Missing'' (1965) * '' Grand Prix'' (1966) * '' Not with My Wife, You Don't!'' (1966) * ''

Seconds The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

'' (1966) * '' Such Good Friends'' (1971) * ''

That's Entertainment, Part II ''That's Entertainment, Part II'' is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to ''That's Entertainment!'' (1974).''Variety Film Reviews, Variety'' film review; May 5, 1976, page 18. Like the previous film, '' ...

'' (1976) * '' Broadcast News'' (1987) * ''

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a ...

'' (1988) * '' Tonkō'' (1988) * '' The War of the Roses'' (1989) * '' Goodfellas'' (1990) * '' Cape Fear'' (1991) * ''

Doc Hollywood ''Doc Hollywood'' is a 1991 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by Daniel Pyne along with Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on Neil B. Shulman's book ''What? Dead...Again?'' The film stars Michael J. F ...

'' (1991) * '' Mr. Saturday Night'' (1992) * '' The Age of Innocence'' (1993) * ''

Higher Learning Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

'' (1995) * ''

'' (1995) * '' A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies'' (1995)

Logos and other designs

Bass was responsible for some of the best-remembered, most iconic logos in North America, including both the Bell Telephone logo (1969) and successor AT&T globe (1983). Other well-known designs were

(1968),

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

(1969) and

(1974). Later, he produced logos for a number of Japanese companies as well. Selected logos by Saul Bass and their respective dates (note that the links shown point to articles on the entities themselves, and not necessarily to the logos): *

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

(1963) *

Ajinomoto is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, cooking oils, frozen food Freezing food Food preservation, preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farm ...

(1973) *

(1984) * Avery International (1975) *

(1969) * Boys Clubs of America (1980) *

Celanese Celanese Corporation, formerly known as Hoechst Celanese, is an American technology and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a Fortune 500 corporation. The company is the world's leading producer of acetic acid, pr ...

(1965) *

(1967)Serling, Robert J. (1974). ''Maverick: The story of Robert Six and Continental Airlines''. Doubleday & Company. . *

(1969) *

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...

(1978) * Fuller(-O'Brien) Paints (1963) *

(1980) *

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by C. W. Post, Charles William (C. W.) Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, a ...

(1984) *

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

(1978) *

(1979) * Japan Energy Corporation (1993) *

J. Paul Getty Trust The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world's wealthiest art institution, with an estimated endowment of US$7.7 billion in 2020. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, which has two locations—the Getty Center in the ...

(1993) * (1964) * (1984) *

Kleenex Kleenex is a brand name primarily known for their line of facial tissues. Often used informally as a genericized trademark for facial tissue, ''Kleenex'' is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark applied to products made in 78 countries. The ...

(1961) * Kosé Cosmetics (1991) * Lawry's Seasoned Salt and Lawry's The Prime Rib (1960) *

Maeda Corporation is a Japanese corporation which was established in 1919. Its main areas of business are building construction and civil engineering. Maeda has domestic offices in eleven Japanese cities, and overseas offices in Thailand, Hong Kong, and India. ...

(1991) * Minami Sports (1991) *

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, lenses, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated ...

(1981) *

NCR Corporation NCR Voyix Corporation, previously known as NCR Corporation and National Cash Register, is a global software, consulting and technology company providing several professional services and Electronics, electronic products. It manufactured Self-c ...

(1996) *

Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and ...

(1970) *

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...

(1968) *

Security Pacific Bank Security Pacific National Bank (SPNB) was a large U.S. bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was acquired by Bank of America in 1992. History On September 1, 1868, Hellman, Temple and Co. opened their first bank branch in Los ...

(1966) *

Southern California Rapid Transit District The Southern California Rapid Transit District (almost always referred to as ''RTD'' or rarely as ''SCRTD'') was a public transportation agency established in 1964 to serve the Greater Los Angeles area. It was the successor to the original Los ...

(1980) *

(1974) *

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

and United Way Centraide Canada (1972–75) *

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(1994) * US postage stamp, "Science and Industry" (1983) *

Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warner ...

(1972) *

Wienerschnitzel Wienerschnitzel is an American fast food chain that specializes in hot dogs and other food products. The brand was founded in 1961 by former Taco Bell employee John Galardi and originally named Der Wienerschnitzel. Despite the name, the company ...

(1978) * Wesson Oil (1964) *

YWCA USA YWCA USA is a nonprofit organization and the American division of the YWCA. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and focuses on women's empowerment. The organization additionally aims for the promotion of peace, justice, freedom, and dignit ...

(1988) An analysis of a sample of Bass's corporate logos in 2011 found them to have an unusual longevity. The most common cause of the end of a Bass corporate logo (in the selection analyzed) was the demise or merger of the company, rather than a corporate logo redesign. The average lifespan of a Bass logo was more than 34 years as of 2013. In 2014,

resurrected the stylized F logo originally designed for Frontier by Bass in 1978, and discontinued when the airline went bankrupt in 1984. Bass created the sculpture which each of the

World Food Prize The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate No ...

laureates receive.

Movie posters

Saul Bass designed emblematic movie posters that transformed the visuals of film advertising. Before Bass's seminal poster for ''

'' (1955), movie posters were dominated by depictions of key scenes or characters from the film, often both juxtaposed with each other. Bass's posters, however, typically developed simplified, symbolic designs that visually communicated key essential elements of the film. For example, his poster for ''The Man with the Golden Arm'', with a jagged arm and off-kilter typography, starkly communicates the protagonist's struggle with heroin addiction. Bass's iconic ''

'' (1958) poster, with its stylized figures sucked down into the nucleus of a spiral vortex, captures the anxiety and disorientation central to the film. His poster for ''

'' (1959), featuring the silhouette of a corpse jarringly dissected into seven pieces, makes both a pun on the film's title and captures the moral ambiguities within which this court room drama is immersed. He created some of his best known posters for films directed by

, and

among others. His last commissioned film poster was created for

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...

'' (1993), but it was never distributed. His poster work spanned five decades and inspired numerous other poster and graphic designers. Bass's film posters are characterized by a distinctive typography and minimalistic style. Selected posters by Saul Bass, and their respective dates:

1950s

* '' Carmen Jones'' (1954) * ''

'' (1955) * '' Edge of the City'' (1956) * '' Storm Center'' (1956) * '' Love in the Afternoon'' (1957) * '' Saint Joan'' (1957) * ''

Bonjour tristesse ''Bonjour Tristesse'' () is a novel by Françoise Sagan. Published in 1954, when the author was only 18, it was an overnight sensation. The title is derived from a poem by Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée", which begins with the lines "Adieu ...

'' (1958) * ''

'' (1958) (style b poster) * ''

'' (1958) * ''

'' (1959)

1960s

* '' Exodus'' (1960) * ''

One, Two, Three ''One, Two, Three'' is a 1961 American political comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, and written by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond. It is based on the 1929 Hungarian one-act play ''Egy, kettő, három'' by Ferenc Molnár, with a "plot borrowe ...

'' (1961) * ''

'' (1962) * '' Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962) * ''

'' (1963) * ''

'' (1963) * '' In Harm's Way'' (1965) * '' Bunny Lake Is Missing'' (1965) * ''

The Firemen's Ball ''The Firemen's Ball'' (or ''Fireman's Ball''; - "Fire, My Lady") is a 1967 Czechoslovak New Wave Satire, satirical Comedy film, comedy directed by Miloš Forman. It is set at the annual ball of a small town's volunteer fire department, and th ...

'' (1967) * '' The Two of Us'' (1967) * '' Why Man Creates'' (1968) * '' Very Happy Alexander'' (1969)

1970s

* '' Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon'' (1970) * '' Such Good Friends'' (1971) * '' Rosebud'' (1975) * ''Brothers'' (1977) * ''Notes on the Popular Arts'' (1977) * ''Bass on Titles'' (1978) * '' The Human Factor'' (1979) * '' The Solar Film'' (1979) * ''

The Double McGuffin ''The Double McGuffin'' is a 1979 American mystery film written and directed by Joe Camp. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy. Elke Sommer and NFL stars Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Lyle Alzado also appear in smaller roles. The fil ...

'' (1979)

1980s and 1990s

* '' The Shining'' (1980) * ''

Return from the River Kwai ''Return from the River Kwai'' is a 1989 British film directed by Andrew McLaglen and starring Edward Fox, Chris Penn and Timothy Bottoms. It is not a sequel to ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957), though it also deals with POWs of the Japan ...

'' (1989) (not distributed) * ''

'' (1993) (rejected poster) He received an unintentionally backhanded tribute in 1995, when

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

's film '' Clockers'' was promoted by a poster that was strikingly similar to Bass's 1959 work for Preminger's film ''

''. Designer Art Sims claimed that it was made as an homage, but Bass regarded it as theft. Many film posters have been considered to be homages to Saul Bass's posters. Some recent examples include the theatrical release poster for ''

Burn After Reading ''Burn After Reading'' is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows a recently jobless CIA analyst, Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), whose misplaced memoirs are found by a pair of dimwitted ...

'' (2008) which incorporates Bass's typography and style of figurative minimalism, and a poster for '' Precious'' (2009) which includes elements from several of Bass's posters, including ''

''. The cover art for

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, vocals). They were a leading group of 2000s indi ...

' single '' The Hardest Button to Button'' is clearly inspired by the Bass poster for ''

''. The comic book artist J. H. Williams III's designs for the

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

story "The Black Glove" pay homage to Bass's designs as well. In addition to movie posters, Bass designed numerous posters for film festivals, and several magazine, book, and album covers. He also designed five Academy Award Presentation posters and the Student Academy Award for the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

. In 1962 he illustrated his only children's book, ''Henri's Walk to Paris'', written by Lenore Klein.

Filmmaker

During the 1960s, Bass was asked by directors and producers to produce not only title sequences for their films, but also to visualize and storyboard key scenes and sequences within them. Bass has the unusual credit of "visual consultant" or "pictorial consultant" on five films. For ''

'' (1960), Bass as "visual consultant" designed key elements of the gladiator school and storyboarded the final battle between slaves and Romans.

John Frankenheimer John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits are ''Birdman of Alcatraz (film), Birdman of Alcatraz'', ''The Manc ...

, the director of '' Grand Prix'' (1966), had Bass storyboard, direct, and edit all but one of the racing sequences for his film. For ''

'' (1961) Bass filmed the prologue, storyboarded the opening dance sequence, and created the ending title sequence. It is Bass's credited role as "pictorial consultant" for Alfred Hitchcock on '' Psycho'' (1960); however, that has caused some controversy and debate. Bass claimed that he participated in directing the highlight scene of ''Psycho'', the tightly edited shower-murder sequence, though several on set at the time (including star

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped he ...

) disputed this claim. The research of several film scholars on Hitchcock's production of ''Psycho'' validates the claim that Bass in his capacity as a graphic artist did indeed have a significant influence on the visual design and pacing of that famous scene. Hitchcock had asked Bass to design and produce storyboards for the shower murder scene and for some other scenes in the film. For this, Bass received a credit as Pictorial Consultant as well as Title Designer. Janet Leigh told Donald Spoto that "the planning of the shower scene was left up to Saul Bass, and Hitchcock followed his storyboard precisely. Because of this ... he shootingwent very professionally," and she told

Stephen Rebello Stephen Rebello is an American writer, screenwriter, journalist and former clinical therapist. Early life Born to parents of second-generation Portuguese American and French-Portuguese American extraction in Fall River, Massachusetts, Rebello ...

that "Mr. Hitchcock showed Saul Bass's storyboards to me quite proudly, telling me in exact detail how he was going to shoot the scene from Saul's plans". Bill Krohn has noted that Bass's 48 story board panels for the scene introduced all the key aspects of the final shower murder scene – most notably, the fact that the attacker appears as a silhouette, close-ups of a slashing knife, the shower curtain torn down, a shot of the shower head from below, Marion's desperate outstretched arm, and the famous shot of the transition from the drain hole of the bathtub to Marion Crane's dead eye. Krohn notes that this final transition is highly reminiscent of Bass's iris titles for ''

''.Krohn, Bill (2003). ''Hitchcock at Work''. (pp. London: Phaidon Press. (p. 231) Krohn also concludes that Bass did not literally direct the shower scene, proving Hitchcock's presence on the set throughout the shooting of that scene. Bass introduced the idea of using a montage of fast cuts and tight framing to render a violent, bloody murder as an impressionistic and nearly bloodless one. Hitchcock felt uncertain about Bass's conception of the scene fearing that audiences might not accept such a stylized and quickly cut sequence. In an interview with film historian Pat Kirkham, Bass recalled, "Having designed and storyboarded the shower sequence, I showed it to Hitch. He was uneasy about it. It was very un-Hitchcockian in character. He never used that kind of quick cutting; he loved the

long shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surro ...

'sic''. To convince Hitchcock that the scene would work as planned, eight days before shooting of the final shower scene, Bass used a newsreel camera and Janet Leigh's stand-in

Marli Renfro Marli Renfro (born April 3, 1938 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former showgirl, model, Playboy cover girl and actress. She was the body double for Janet Leigh in the shower scene of the 1960 film '' Psycho''. Early career Renfro, ...

to shoot footage on the set to plan the shots in more detail. Working with Hitchcock's editor George Tomasini, he edited this footage following the storyboards to show Hitchcock how the scene could work. In the end, Hitchcock gave his approval but, according to Kirkham, made two additions: a spray of blood on the chest of Marion Crane/Janet Leigh as she slides down the tiles, and a close-up of her belly getting stabbed. In 1964, Saul and his wife and creative partner Elaine directed the short film ''The Searching Eye'' shown during the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...

, co-produced with Sy Wexler. The Basses also directed a short documentary film called '' Why Man Creates'' which won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject in 1968. An abbreviated version of that film was broadcast on the first episode of the television newsmagazine ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

''. In 2002, this film was selected for the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Saul and Elaine directed several other short films, two of which were nominated for

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

: '' Notes on the Popular Arts'', in 1977, and '' The Solar Film'', in 1979. In 1974, Saul Bass made his only feature-length film as a director, the visually splendid though little-known

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

'' Phase IV'', a "quiet, haunting, beautiful, ... and largely overlooked, science-fiction masterwork".

Legacy

The moving image collection of Saul Bass is held at the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

and consists of 2,700 items. The film material is complemented by the Saul Bass papers at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library. The Academy Film Archive has preserved two of Bass's films: ''Why Man Creates'', in 2011, and ''Notes on the Popular Arts'' (also known as ''An Essay: The Popular Arts Today''), in 2012. On May 8, 2013, Bass's 93rd birthday was celebrated by a

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

, which featured the tune " Unsquare Dance" by

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

References

External links

*
Saul Bass Archive
a
FilmArt Gallery

Saul Bass Poster Archive
The Saul Bass Estate
Titles Designed by Saul Bass (still sequences & commentary)

Saul Bass Title Sequences on Art of the Title

Title Sequences from Saul Bass (videos & commentary)

Saul Bass title sequences: ten of the best
compiled by ''The Guardian''
Saul Bass papers
Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Saul 1920 births 1996 deaths AIGA medalists American graphic designers American typographers and type designers American children's book illustrators American poster artists Deaths from lymphoma in California Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma Directors of Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners Film and television title designers Film poster artists Jewish American illustrators 20th-century American illustrators Logo designers Designers from New York City James Monroe High School (New York City) alumni Brooklyn College alumni 20th-century American Jews Royal Designers for Industry

Early life

Film title sequences

Selected film title sequences

Logos and other designs

Movie posters

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s and 1990s

Filmmaker

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links