Saul Bass was born on 8 May 1920 in New York City and died in Los Angeles on 25 April 1996. He was of Jewish American descent and a designer and filmmaker by profession. Saul Bass was a prominent figure in both the fields of graphic design and filmmaking, having received Academy Awards for numerous films. In the early stages of his career, he undertook studies in art at the Student’s League in Manhattan, attending classes with György Kepes at Brooklyn College.
Films
Saul Bass enjoyed a lengthy and fruitful career as a filmmaker, utilising his graphic design expertise, particularly in the creation of title sequences. He was responsible for creating such compelling scenes that, rather than the curtain rising once the credits had rolled, the public sought to view the film credits and observe his exceptional talent as an integral aspect of the film. He was privileged to have forged numerous professional relationships throughout his film career, most notably with Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick.
Saul Bass first gained recognition in the film industry while undertaking background work, having been approached by Otto Parminger with a request for his assistance. Parminger was so gratified by the quality of Bass’s work that he offered him the position of graphic designer for the title sequences of The Man with the Golden Arm. The film’s narrative revolved around a jazz musician grappling with a heroin addiction, a subject matter that was highly radical at the time, particularly given the prevailing taboo surrounding drug use. Bass devised an innovative design comprising an animated paper arm representing a heroin addict. The heroin was illustrated through the use of text, which was animated to move up and down the arm until it formed the high-angle shot of the UN building, which had been taken from Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. In the film ‘Psycho’, the disparate texts move in conjunction with one another, yet also diverge, thus unifying the various elements of the film and elucidating the interconnectivity of its components.
Additionally, he demonstrated his exceptional talent in the film “Psycho.” Saul Bass is particularly renowned for his title sequences. In Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Bass’s sketches for the opening titles significantly influenced the iconic shower scene, characterised by jagged bars slashed across the screen in a manic mirrored helter-skelter image. These images set the pace for the most pivotal scene ever to be captured on celluloid, in which the actress is killed by a manic killer stabbing her whilst she is in the shower.
In his later years, Bass collaborated with Martin Scorsese on films such as The Age of Innocence, employing the evocative use of colour and natural imagery to convey the essence of the title.
Graphic Designer
Saul Bass was a prominent graphic designer known for creating some of the most notable logo designs in the United States. One of his most notable works was the Bell Telephone Logo, which later evolved into the AT&T globe in 1983. Additionally, he created the logos for the renowned jet stream for Continental Airlines in 1968, Dixie in 1969, and United in 1972. Subsequently, he proceeded to create logos for Japanese companies and was instrumental in the design of the Student Academy Award for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
