Saul Bass
Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 — April 25, 1996) was a graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of film posters, title sequences and corporate logos.
Saul Bass is said to be the single most accomplished graphic designer in history by many. Building up his portfolio during the mid 20th century, just when the importance of graphic design was steadily on the rise, Bass created brand identities for many major corporations with his sought after iconic and minimalistic designs. However, logo design is just a small part of how Bass rightfully earned his status in the graphic design world, perhaps even the lesser reason.
During his 40-year career Bass worked for some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese. He quickly became well-known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955. For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass designed effective and memorable title sequences, inventing a new type of kinetic typography, for North by Northwest, Vertigo (working with John Whitney), and Psycho.
Born in 1920 in New York City to a family of Jewish immigrants Bass was always creating even as a child. He attended college night classes at the Art Students League where he had the pleasure of studying under the watchful eyes of György Kepes, who was renowned for his functional Bauhaus aesthetic.
In the 1940s, Bass left New York for California, working mostly for advertising until his first major break: a poster for the 1954 film, Carmen Jones. The filmmakers were so impressed by his poster work, they invited him to design the title credits as well. This was later seen as a pivotal point in not just his career but in the world of graphic design as a whole.
Bass stepped up the sophistication of movie posters with his distinctive minimalistic style by completely revolutionising the role of title credits in films. Traditionally, credits were static and boring- to the point where they would even be projected onto the shut movie curtains which would only open for the films first official scene. Bass, however, was committed to injecting life into these graphics, making them as much a part of the cinematic experience as anything else. Introducing his signature “kinetic type,” Bass’ letters dashed and moved across the screen and frequently incorporated images other than text. His titles became a part of the movie itself, Film reels with Bass credits were delivered to movie theatres along with a note: “projectionist — pull curtain before titles.”
This poster features the singular image of disembodied limbs and body parts put together. The violent, harsh image shocks the viewer and immediately draws them in. As well as relating perfectly to the title of the film, the image has connotations of death and violence, relating to the themes that may perhaps be featured in the film.
Bass uses a scratchy, wild font which has metaphorical connotations of mental fragility, relating to violence and, consequently, murder.
The title of the film itself is straight to point, the word ‘murder’ suggesting violence and danger. Moreover, the word ‘anatomy’ has connotations of mystery, investigating and, as a result, discovering.
The colours red and black are both gruesome, reinforcing the themes of the poster. Both red and black have metaphorical connotations of murder, death and violence. The startling primary colours jump out at the viewer, drawing them in.
The minimalistic approach means that the imagery and text are very literally at the centre of the poster, suggesting that murder and violence are at the centre of the narrative structure of the poster. The title of the film is written over the top of the body, highlighting to the audience the literal link between imagery and title.
