Media Mix Initial Artist Research: Saul Bass

As media mix is a project crossing several different products, I will be looking at designers and artists of different projects. I will be starting with Saul Bass, a famous graphic cover artist working with albums, books, movies, and posters. 

Saul Bass (n.d.) Vertigo Movie Poster

Found in: Area of Design

Saul Bass says: '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, n.d.). He interpreted his cover as an experience of a work prior to the actual experience; simply looking at his cover will immerse you into the product before you have seen its contents, whether it be music, movie, or book. He breaks down the elements of the contents literally and figuratively, then illustrates that into simple and minimal graphic cover. As seen above, the pattern used for the poster can be linked to the sense of vertigo, which is the title of the movie, and the characters seem like a person is falling and another trying to catch, which quickly outlines the movie's plot of where an acrophobic policeman tries to save a woman trying to commit suicide. He also integrates the title of the work into his work, making it another graphic point of Bass's work. His style is very efficient with covers; it delivers a powerful message and immediately captures the audience's attention with a single image, which is often what the viewers see to decide whether they would consume a product.

Not only did he work on graphic covers, he was known for his iconic logo works. 

Saul Bass (n.d.) Logo designs

Found in: Art of the Title

Although it has different styles to his covers, it contains the same elements and core that Bass uses. Minimalistic, simple, and direct on approach: the logos suit to symbolise the industry they belong to. Often using round edges and blue tones, it is another way of letting the consumers immerse in the product by making it seem friendly and approachable.

His basis on forming a cover art is a new process that I haven't commonly thought of. Although the way he uses text in his works isn't quite my style, it gave me a new approach in the process of creating my work. Minimalistic, geometric covers can give more creative interpretation for the viewers, making them more interested, and connecting multiple covers of those type (another style that Bass use) can create a connection between multiple works visually, which is helpful as I would be making a variety of covers of the same product. Analysing his works would help me make a more impactful and meaningful covers for my project.

References:

Area of Design, (2022), Saul Bass. Available from: https://areaofdesign.com/saul-bass/ [Accessed 27/10/22]

Art of the Title, (2022), Saul Bass. Available from: https://www.artofthetitle.com/designer/saul-bass/ [Accessed 28/10/22]

The Academy: Medium, (2015), Saul Bass On His Approach To Designing Movie Title Sequences. Available from: https://medium.com/art-science/saul-bass-on-his-approach-to-designing-movie-title-sequences-47fd537c457b  [Accessed 30/10/22]

The Logo Creative, (2022), Legendary Logo Designer Saul Bass. Available from: https://www.thelogocreative.co.uk/legendary-logo-designer-saul-bass/ [Accessed 01/11/22]