Geeks in History: Saul Bass
Today’s Geeks in History focuses on a man who revolutionized the way we watch movies and look at design. This man worked with Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Scorsese, and did graphic design for the likes of AT&T, Girl Scouts, Geffen Records, United Way, and Continental Airlines. I’m referring to the one and only legendary designer, Saul Bass.
"Design is thinking made visual."
Saul Bass was born May 8, 1920 in the Bronx district of New York. From 1936 through 1939, he studied modernism at New York’s Art Students League until attending classes with Georgy Keeps at Brooklyn College. In 1954 he was working in Hollywood doing print work for film ads when he worked with Otto Preminger, a filmmaker, to design the poster for his film Carmen Jones. Preminger was so impressed with Bass’ work that he encouraged Bass to produce a title sequence for a film. In those days, titles were little more than a card with names on it, and Saul Bass saw an opportunity to do more.
Typically in those days, movie curtains remained closed during the opening titles of a film. When The Man with the Golden Arm arrived at theaters in 1955, a note was stuck on the film containers – “Projectionists – pull curtain before titles”. Audiences were then introduced to something never seen before in opening titles, and this caused quite a stir. The movie starred Frank Sinatra playing a jazz musician with a heroin addiction, and the cut-out addict’s arm, loud jazz music, and colors went along perfectly with the theme of the film. He also designed the poster in the same style as his titles, effectively branding the film.
Saul Bass provided the titles of movies over the next 40 years. He did the opening titles for North by Northwest, Psycho, and Vertigo, displaying his love of geometry and kinetic typography.Other memorable titles included Around the World in Eighty Days, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (my favorite), and the original Ocean’s 11. Later in his career, he did The War of the Roses, Big, Doc Hollywood, and Casino, all major films.
Apart from his memorable titles, he also designed a number of iconic logos for major companies. Among these were Dixie, Girl Scouts of the USA, YWCA, US Postage, Warner Communications, and Quaker Oats. In addition to his design work, as mentioned before, Bass also provided the poster art for a number of major films including Psycho, an unused design for The Magnificent Seven, and The Shining. Direction was among his interests. He designed and directed the shower scene as well as a few other in Psycho, a film in 1954 called The Searching Eye, and a 1974 film called Phase IV.
Saul Bass died on April 25, 1996 in Los Angeles of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was survived by his wife, Elaine Makatura, and his two children, Jennifer and Jeffrey. He’s also left a legacy of inspiration to generations of designers and changed the way we watch movies forever. With his movie titles, logos, posters, and direction, his work will be a part of us forever.
Geeks in History is a biweekly column about notable geeks of the past and how they impacted modern life.
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