Saul Bass's iconic logos

Marilyn sez, "I was surprised to discover that 12 famous logos were all designed by the same person, Saul Bass, who is better known for designing movie posters and the opening credits in movies. The logos are: Bass, AT&T, Avery International, Continental Airlines, United Way, Minolta, Girl Scouts, Quaker Oats, Kleenex, Exxon, Warner Communications (when they're all lined up like this you see a similarity in style)." Inspiration: Logos by Saul Bass (Thanks, Marilyn!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

degroof

Hmm, the Minolta, AT&T and Continental Airlines all look awfully similar.
Brainspore

Saul Bass and Paul Rand are always prominently featured when I teach about the history of graphic design. Those dudes were the joint mayors of awesometown as far as I’m concerned.

But who the heck is Saul Bell?
OM

…Bass made minimalism an effective advertising tool because he added something that UPA and Suburbia styling didn’t – a sense of symmetry that was visible and not implied. Add to that the fact that his blocky abstracts are easily viewable especially by those who’ve got really fracked eyesight, and still recognizeable for what they represent.

…As others have noted over the years, one of the reasons people liked It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was Bass’ opening credits.
OM

…On a side note, it’s a testament to how effective his style was when you realize that, over a generation after the Bell System broke up/reconglomerated into AT&T, kids who weren’t even born back then associate the circle-and-bell logo with your local phone company.
jahknow

I can smell the ’70s just looking at those….
richardchaven

Phase IV?! Dude! That was the last of the great 70′s [sic] intellectual science fiction movies.

One wouldn’t connect that with symbolic representation, but perhaps one should…
Graham Anderson

It is ironic that the article should confuse Bass and Bell. Bass Breweries’ red triangle logo is the oldest trademark in Britain, being registered in January 1876 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_(beer) ]
eti

Raymond Loewy is Da Man!
mistervega

SAUL BASS IS THE FUKCING SH!T.

Him and Paul Rand and Herb Lubalin.
Geoff Sebesta

Gotta say, I work at the airport, and that UA logo looks pretty darn dinky compared to most of the really awesome logos for the other airlines (Hawaiian, Alaska, Continental, Jet Blue…). I still love the AT&T logo but they need to update UA.
RamonaLittle

Just to name another random brilliant person who hasn’t gotten the recognition he deserves: Daniel Reeve. He designed the logos for the movies The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Narnia, and King Kong. Plus he did a huge percentage of the artwork, props, sets etc. for those movies and all the associated merchandising. But because it’s all work-for-hire for the studios, his name is hardly on anything.

It’s cool that there exist people who like to attach names to the artwork, and logo design definitely takes real artistic talent.
rwmj

Saul Bass also directed the most awesome killer ant sci-fi film ever, “Phase IV”.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070531/
Jasonclock

I never figured out how to pronounce his last name… is it like the instrument or the fish? (I honestly want to know.)

PS. Great that Cory (or the Admin) changed the text from “Saul Bell” to “Saul Bass”, but is the first logo now really for “Bass” or has he just done a general search & replace? Or is he just being cheeky?
monstrinho_do_biscoito

/PEDANT MODE….ON!

you wote Saul Bell not Bass in the body of the text

/PEDANT MODE….OFF!
DrBrunvand

Wait, wait.
Saul BELL?
Saul BASS ?
Stuart Ellis

Actually, Raymond Loewy designed the Exxon logo…

He also designed the logos for Shell, BP, Lucky Strike, Canada Dry, TWA, International Harvester, Pepsodent, Greyhound, Nabisco, Sealtest…
Michael R. Bernstein

Here is a link to Paul Rand’s more famous logos:

http://www.dlsdesign.com/paul_rand/paul_rand_logos.html
TEKNA2007

He also designed the logos for Shell, BP, Lucky Strike, Canada Dry, TWA, International Harvester, Pepsodent, Greyhound, Nabisco, Sealtest…

Not to mention an iconic steam locomotive. Buck Rogers on Rails!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRR_S1
pennydreadful

I’ve always been partial too the logos of Paul Rand, UPS, IBM, Westinghouse, ABC.
machinelf

He also laid out the Psycho shower scene.
rollerskater

better known for movie posters & opening credits??? maybe to those who don’t know him!
Anonymous

I got to stay on the same floor of a hotel with Saul Bass one year at an AIGA conference. It was the smoking floor. I was the only one in my group who smoked, or would admit it. He and his lovely wife rode the elevator up and down with me several times. Very friendly and nice people. He is one of the most talented designers ever and I was so excited to be near him. Sometimes it pays to have bad habits!
airship

I thought George Lucas designed the AT&T logo?!?