Although Saul Bass is typically viewed as modern design’s urban sophisticate with his simple, savvy titles, he wasn’t afraid to put on his cowboy hat when he had to…
Category Archives: Artists & Illustrators
Saul Bass + Elaine Bass = All Class.
Okay, I’ve finally gotten through the 415-page blockbuster book, Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design by Pat Kirkham and Jennifer Bass (Saul’s daughter) — and my eyeballs hurt. Wow, what a visual feast! Part biography, part loving tribute, this tomé features over 1,400 illustrations, spanning Bass’s iconic career in movies and corporate identity/commercial logos. It’s almost unthinkable what the 1950’s-1970’s would’ve looked like without Bass’s clean, colorful logos decorating everything from cereal boxes to 747’s.
Although the career highlights of Mr. Bass have been well-documented in Art of the Title and Movie Titles, this publication uncovers many lesser-known tidbits about the modern master, including how his Walk on the Wild Side titles influenced a young Stevie Spielberg to do an 8mm film with his diva dog, Thunder, as well as Bass’s work on such late 1980’s pictures as Broadcast News, Big, and Mr. Saturday Night.
The book also clarifies the vitally important contributions of Saul’s accomplished wife, Elaine. Much like the Eames’s close-knit relationship, Elaine Bass took over production on the title sequence for Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960) and their cool collaborations continued on with Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, and Martin Scorsese (their Casino titles no doubt inspired the Mad Men intro), all the way up to Saul Bass’s death in 1996.
Black Widow Lake?
No doubt the new limited-edition Black Widow posters by indie UK artist, Olly Moss, (courtesy of Alamo Drafthouse) are all sold out by now…but perhaps Veronica Lake is still available?
Happy Alcatraz Anniversary!
Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the three prisoners who escaped Alcatraz Island Penitentiary back in 1962, but were never found or heard from again — unless you saw Clint Eastwood’s portrayal in Escape From Alcatraz. And the arresting one-sheet was done by 1970’s-80’s star illustrator, Birney Lettick.
So whether you’re stuck in jail today or free as a bird, enjoy this ration of Alcatraz movie posters, including an early Boris Grinsson french poster for the never-before-seen (at least to my eyes), Alcatraz Island…
The Beauty of Bradbury
Upon hearing of the passing of science-fiction/fantasy writer extraordinaire, Ray Bradbury, I thought back to when I first moved to Los Angeles in the late 90’s and heard the legend was doing a local neighborhood bookstore signing (which wasn’t that unusual since he was known to graciously sign everything!).
I’m not much of an autograph hound — or a sci-fi geek — but for some reason I got his John Hancock. Such a sweetheart of a guy. Here’s what he wrote…
Blown Out
Every artist has suffered rejection — and now Francoise Mouly, art editor of The New Yorker mag, has a book out called Blown Covers that is dedicated to the many interesting, but perhaps too incendiary, potential covers submitted for their vaunted weekly — no doubt supplied by the likes of such high-profile contributors as Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, Maira Kalman, and Saul Steinberg.
American Shepard
Old school rock legend, Neil Young, has signed up new school poster star, Shepard Fairey, to do a whole batch of cover art for his new album, Americana, which kinda reminds me of that classic one-sheet for Terence Malick’s Days of Heaven…
Spider Kong!
For some reason, the new Amazing Spiderman one-sheet is giving me a slicker, tinglier King Kong flashback…
The Poster Stylings of Yves Thos
With the unique style of Yves Saint Lauren and the drawing power of Thor, French poster artist, Yves Thos, set cinema lovers’ hearts afire for decades with his memorable renderings of La Dolce Vita and other International classics…(EMP)
Movie Poster Museum 