Here is my paper on Saul Bass, which I didn't know until now was one of my favorite designers. Enjoy!
Saul Bass: Design is Thinking Made Visual
Saul Bass was a pioneer and ground breaking designer and director. Bass broke into American cinema and changed Hollywood tradition forever. With a style unmatched and so fresh, Bass rose as a designing genius. He redefined film’s visual language with jagged-print objects and use of broken type, liberating many designers to come. His work was daring, constructed with bold, confident lines and simple images, recalling Soviet commercial design of the ‘20s while adding an American twist.
Born in the Bronx in 1920, Bass studied at the Art Students League in New York and Brooklyn College under Gyorgy Kepes; who introduced him to the Bauhaus style and Russian Constructivism that his later titles highly favored. His work could be summarized by his motto of “symbolize and summarize”, always carefully choosing single silhouetted images to quickly set the tone of the films he worked on.
He became visual consultant for Hollywood’s greatest, from the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, and Martin Scorsese. Some of his most noted credits include: The Man with the Golden Arm, The Seven Year Itch, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Anatomy of a Murder, Exodus, Psycho, Ocean’s Eleven, Spartacus, Cape Fear, Goodfellas, and West Side Story. Bass soon became the undisputed master of film title design, turning neglected titles into integral parts of the film. He turned movie titles into art forms, with The Man with the Golden Arm being one of his most acclaimed pieces.
Bass was also recognized for his logo design. He was responsible for some of the most iconic and remembered logos in North America, which include: Bell, AT&T, Exxon, Continental Airlines, United Way, Avery International, Kleenex, Lawry’s, Girl Scouts of USA, United Airlines, and Quaker Oats.
A quote describing the importance of titles:
"My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film's story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it."
Bass’ work would go on to inspire many who would adapt if not replicate his iconic style into their own works. Some of the most famous adaptations include Spike Lee’s Clockers and Florence Deygas and Olivier Kuntzel’s titles for Catch Me If You Can.
These imitations serve as a tribute to a one of our greatest American designers. By the end of his life, Saul Bass created over 50 title sequences for Preminger, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Frankenheimer, and Scorsese. He died in 1996 at the age of 75, leaving a prolific career spanning over 40 years.
Here's what some people are talking about on the almighty Facebook : Is There an Upside to all the downsides of REcession? it is the beauty of "constraints forcing creative solutions"
1. How can we use the downturn to inspire new growth? how can we create new business opportunities? 2. A silver lining to a downturn is that reducing waste can become a generative activity. In other words, being forced to tighten one's belt by external circumstances is more likely to generate creative solutions than a voluntary tightening during good times, when there is less at stake. 3. There is an Eskimo proverb that says: "The storm is the time to fish."
alright-i know everyone has posted about these 77 design gifts under $77-but i have to post this because it is something i have always wanted. Straws, beverages, and old school soda bottles.
This sounds similar to steve's honors presentation - discussing mediums-but with a some minor changes.
Brands, social, clutter and the sundae More than a catchy title-mr. godin provides us with some insights on companies (like facebook and twitter) & their advertising goals.
They are asking, "how can we use these new tools to leverage our existing businesses?" They want to use the thing they have (money) to get the thing they need (attention) and are basically trying to force ads onto a medium that just doesn't want them.
i say just get our of here! The clutter is going to get a lot worse. Marketers and free media are drawn to each other, even if the results aren't always very good. Until marketers get off the greed train, though, it's going to be a long time between pots of gold.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking."
Prototype 02 Exhibition An exhibition of prototype's from product designers, furniture designers, architects, and creatives.
I thought some of these goodies were SUPER NEAT!! what i really took away from these works were the cohesive look & themes throughout the projects in other words: UNITY!
