Saul Bass is acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s most successful corporate designers, responsible for (amongst others) the logos and identity systems for AT&T, United Airlines, Alcoa and Warner Communications.
Bass’s work is instantly recognisable for its directness, its simplicity and the way it makes its meaning felt. Breaking all conventions in the 1950s and 60s, Bass virtually invented film titles as we know them today, and he was the first to synthesize movies into compelling trademark images.
Looking at his poster designs on display at the Kemistry Gallery, I wondered how much his style was driven by the silk screen process and the need to reduce the visual idea down to it's simplest, most expressive components.
His later posters were more colourful and visually complex, yet seemed to have less impact.
In a period when graphic imagery can be easily manipulated electronically, Bass reminds us that to cut through the visual clutter, a strong idea is always at the heart of a great design.
