Comments on: Inspiration: Logos by Saul Bass

By: saul bass; logos | standardRGB

saul bass; logos | standardRGB — Sat, 09 May 2009 23:24:40 +0000

[...] saul bass; logos +source No [...]

By: Skipper

Skipper — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:54:57 +0000

tammanycall – there is no basis for you to go throwing around accusations that Saul Bass was a liar. At worst his comments have been taken out of context and misunderstood. At best, it’s Hitchcock’s honesty that would be more in question in this matter. Bass was indeed responsible for creating that incredible shower scene, just not as the on-the-spot director.

In fact, the cast and/or crew of Psycho DO NOT dispute the assertion that Bass created and designed the story-board for the shower scene in Psycho. They couldn’t anyway because the story board designed by Bass is now in the public domain and it has been confirmed in recent research that the scene was designed – in it’s entirety – by Saul Bass (as well as another murder scene in the movie – see Bill Krohn’s “Hitchcock at Work”, Phaidon Press, 2003)

The question that the cast and crew were asked was if Saul Bass directed the scene on the set and of course he didn’t. Bass never said he did. Bass’s assertion was that he PARTICIPATED in the direction. And indeed he did participate in the direction, very much so, as you’ll see if you look at the story boards. But Bass’s participation in the direction was at the story-board stage, his directions were on paper. Hitchcock simply put them on film. People got their knickers in a knot without stopping to think about what’s involved in directing and how many ways there are to participate in directing without actually being on set telling everyone what to do.

When Hitchcock directed this scene he followed the storyboards created by Bass so slavishly that the actors are renowned for having complained about how specific and regimented Hitchcock was in sticking to the exact details of “his” story-board. For the most part the actors were not told the story-boards were created and devised by someone else.

And this is why Bass is credited in the films titles (albeit grudgingly as being for “Pictorial graphics” as well as separately for designing the titles) and it’s also why the scene is so very reminiscent of Bass’s style. IMO He should have been given more credit for his work on this scene but Bass didn’t seem to mind too much.

By: Erik @ Logo Critiques

Erik @ Logo Critiques — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:02:36 +0000

Wow, great post. What timeless logos.

By: Vintage und Retro Film Grafik Links | 20 Greatest

Vintage und Retro Film Grafik Links | 20 Greatest — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:17:18 +0000

[...] Saul Bass – dieser Name sollte einem Grafikdesigner ein Begriff sein. Einer der ganz großen Kollegen Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts. Über die Gestaltung von Print-Kampagnen für Filme kam er zum Titel-Design (Opening Credits und so weiter) und durfte sogar die berühmte Duschszene in Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho umsetzen, nachdem er das Storyboard gezeichnet hatte. Außerdem ist Bass auch bekannt durch seine vielen grandiosen Logos für Weltmarken. [...]

By: Masupatsela » Saul Bass

Masupatsela » Saul Bass — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:51:36 +0000

[...] Saul Bass logos at Signal Noise. [...]

By: james

james — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:15:21 +0000

Ray, thanks very much for your thoughtful and insightful comments. I’m thrilled to see just how many greats you have met and worked with over the years, many of which are among my design heroes. So fortunate to have witnessed so many great projects at such an important time in design evolution.

Most of all, it is wonderful catch a glimpse of design history based upon your experiences and story. I do quite a lot of reading about design from the 50s onward so it’s awesome to hear about specific design studios where the people who forged the industry worked.

Thanks very much Ray!

By: ray jacobs

ray jacobs — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:51:09 +0000

All,
I was fortunate to have worked with another brilliant designer and creative director for many years. Lou Dorfsman, the keeper of the CBS eye. Of course, William Golman designed the eye, but Lou did some of the most outstanding and thought-provoking marketing ever done for a TV network. His book, “Dorfsman on CBS”, is outstanding, and displays his immense brilliance and intellect. Bill Paley never approved one ad while Lou was there. He trusted him to “do his job as the marketer for CBS”, and of course we know how much that has changed over the years. The only other person I know that I also worked with that was trusted to that extent is Steve Sohmer. He also worked at CBS Network after Lou, and I had the pleasure and honor of being on his team for too short a period. (Apologies again to Steve.) Please go to this site for a brief article and some work of this genius I called a friend for years. http://www.designrelated.com/inspiration/Karen/tag/legend

By: ray jacobs

ray jacobs — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:38:25 +0000

Hugh G,
My father, Harry Jacobs, hand lettered the Kleenex logo for Saul. He was Saul’s favorite hand-lettering artist and did a lot of work for him in the early days, when Art Goodman was Saul’s art director. Art also worked in my father’s art sudio in the 50’s called The Wilshire Art Group. My dad also taught at Chouinard Art Institute, (future Cal Arts school in Valencia, Ca.) I attended Art Center College of Design in L.A., and have taught there as well. Both of my sons graduated from Art Center, and own their own design firms. http://www.titanadgroup.com, http://www.unitedfuture.com.
My father passed away in 2000, at the age of 93.

By: Jeffrey Zeldman Presents : Saved from the deep

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents : Saved from the deep — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:21:07 +0000

[...] Logos by Saul Bass [...]

By: Rick.

Rick. — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:34:11 +0000

Jeff is a douche.