There is a really nice collection of Saul Bass posters here from the 1950’s to the 1980s. I am familiar with most of his older work as that is what they teach you about in design school so it was nice to see some of his later work which is really impressive and still timeless. I always wonder when looking at this older work what techniques they used to create their imagery. I know most of it is photographic but I wonder what was used to generate the graphics in the AT&T poster above. Regardless all of it is timeless and artistic work.
Here is some of John Whitney’s 1961 showreel entitled “Catalog.” John worked on films of numerous categories and collaborated with some pivotal players in the film & design industry, including Saul Bass on Hitchcock‘s “Vertigo” title sequence. It might not look like much to us now, but 40 & 50 years back this was a pretty big step in the direction of what most of us refer to as motion graphics or oscilloscopy. John had a pretty unique sense of creativity, not only in his output, but in his production techniques as well. He used a mechanical analogue computer that he invented to do most of these animations. It’s kind of amazing to really see where these sort of things start up and gain their momentum. I constantly try to remind myself of the importance of somethings original meaning and how people can come together because of it. These combined endeavors can affect, not only each person’s ambition, but the industry’s as a whole. These rare collaborations between artists and designer go unseen and nearly unrewarded for most. When I find little pieces of history like this, it makes me feel like the world is a giant place and there is truly no limit to information and creativity.
