• 23Sep
    Saul Bass’ Times are a Changin’

    I have made my personal admiration for Paul Rand quite clear in my past posts. I was amazed to find however that I have not yet even so much as commented on Saul Bass. As my fellow enthusiasts know, Saul Bass is one of the most influential artists in many different forms of American art. Film, logo, graphic, posters, animation, he does it all.

    You know his work even if you don’t shop for brand names. Titles such as “The Man with the Golden Arm” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” also boast his work. His revolutionary designs changed multimedia in America forever. My film interests aside Bass’ logo accomplishments themselves take are more than impressive. Let’s take a look at a couple of them.

    Girl Scouts of America (1978)

    Bell Telephone (1969)

    While several of these logos were created many decades ago, they are still timeless. But unfortunately this is not necessarily true for all of Bass’ designs. Please don’t misunderstand me, I love each of his original designs, but apparently the ad execs and new management didn’t feel the same way.

    There is a certain feel in several of Bass’ designs that reflects his era. This is to be expected, but does not seem to go over well with the newer generations. Lets now take a look at some of Bass’ original designs, and their current interpretations.

    While the new AT&T logo is clearly cleaner cut and new age, the Quaker Oats logo actually uses a painting from 1957. It seems that many organizations are moving away from the style of Saul Bass’ design, to looks from older or modern artists.

    Saul Bass is an influential artist, and the world of American art lost a great contributor with his passing. It appears however that his designs are losing their place in corporate America, and finding their home in the museums.

    Im still searching for that next great logo designer. While the designs may not last forever, There will be another logo king of the 21st century. Do you know him/her? Is it you?

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