Y2 FMP Contextual Research
- 2. Saul Bass Saul Bass is known as one of the most famous and influential graphic designers in the world. Born in May 1920 and died in April 1996, Bass has designed some of the most iconic corporate logos and well-known movie posters throughout his lifetime. He was creative as a child and particularly enjoyed drawing. He got his start during college, he went to Brooklyn College where he attended night classes at the Art Students League, he was taught by the designer Gyorgy Kepes. After that, he moved to LA and became a freelancer and worked for companies such as Warner Bros, and other advertising agencies. And eventually established his own private firm ‘Saul Bass & Associates’ in 1952. He had his big break in 1954 when he was hired to design a poster for the film ‘Carmen Jones’ and create a title sequence. He then went on to create a multitude of iconic logos and posters. Logos such as Kleenex, Girl Scouts, Warner Communications, and Continental Airlines. Bass also created posters for the film ‘Vertigo’ and ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’, and a title sequence for ‘Anatomy of a Murder’. These are just a few examples of his early work. Some of his final projects were credits for four Martin Scorsese films. In modern day, film posters or music covers have paid homage to Bass’ work which shows the influence that he has on graphic design even throughout modern design and constantly evolving trends. The Saul Bass Archive was started in 2015 by Matthew McCarthy who agrees that Bass’ artwork remains influential within graphic design in modern day, “Saul’s designs remained unaffected by the prevailing trends in arts commerce of the time. I think the timelessness of the work comes down to an ability to distill a film’s story, message and atmosphere into a single, powerful image.” This page allows you to view Bass’ work throughout the years. When discussing the poster designs, McCarthy states that the designs operate on two levels, “They ‘sell’ the film as well as function as a timeless work of art. The posters are uncluttered with images of movie stars and devoid of the extraneous, hard-selling text and taglines”. ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ poster and title sequence was a pivotal project for him to create. As title sequences at the time usually consisted of the actors' names listed in front of a plain background, “The Man with the Golden Arm woke everybody up” (Kyle Cooper). It inspired more title sequences to be made in this way. A lot of Bass’ work featured bold, contrasting colours and strong typography. This was unique for the time and a bold move for Bass as a lot of posters didn’t stand out like his did. Throughout his work, you can see that his posters and title sequences had bold colours, or were made to work with or around the title. The typography on the posters were often made from his own drawings in order for them to look more authentic. When asked about his design process, Bass speaks about how he sees the title as a means to transport the viewer. It is the first impression of the film and allows the audience to have an emotional connection before the film even starts. “My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film’s story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. 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.” Seeing his work honoured, and how his art style is re-created and inspired now just shows how important Saul Bass was to graphic design and how he influenced a new art style that is still referenced to this day.
- 3. Work By Saul Bass: Carmen Jones (1954) This film poster was the poster that gave Bass his first big break. Once he created this poster, he was asked again to design a title sequence for the movie. This project helped his work get recognised on a larger scale in industry and kick started his career. The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) This film poster and title sequence is some of his most well-known work. The title sequence helped influence how title sequences were displayed in films. The text and the arm were drawn by Bass himself and were centre of the poster to draw the viewer in. The title sequence is also featured around this arm image, which gives connotations to the film. Vertigo (1958) This film poster was created featuring Bass’ iconic typography style. The text stands out to the audience and is easily legible. The centre of the poster features a drawing of a man along with a spiral drawing coming out from the centre of the poster. This links in with the title, as Bass always likes to base his work around the film title, as the artwork was designed to give the viewer feelings of vertigo (dizziness/ like everything is spinning. These are a just few of the logos made by Bass. The clean and simplistic design, whilst also being visually appealing allows these logos to stand the test of time and remain consistent within the branding on these companies throughout the years. (Logos include, Girl Scouts, Continental Airlines, Kleenex and Warner Communications)
- 4. Aries Moross Aries Moross is a British graphic designer and illustrator based in London. They are typically recognised for their abstract art style with bold, contrasting colours, as well as their typographic illustrations. Their main inspirations for graphic design started when they were a child, they always enjoyed drawing and grew up around a family that encouraged creativity and displayed lots of artwork with geometric shapes and patterns. “It wasn’t like they just got the crayons out for the children, it was something we did anyway. Also, I grew up with a lot of visual stuff around me, my aunt is an artist and in the 80s she used to make really geometric paper pieces.” After studying at Wimbledon University of Arts and then also achieving their Bachelor of Arts degree from Camberwell University of Arts, they launched a vinyl only record label called Isomorph Records. This was set up to allow Moross to study the dynamics between music and design. This label launched several artists such as ‘Cutting Pink with Knives’, ‘Pictureplane’, and more. However, this label and website was taken down in 2012. In place, Studio Moross was launched. Moross set up this design studio that contain a team of people who focus on branding, prints, and moving images which is led by Moross as the art director. As a team they have worked on projects with a variety of musical artists and companies. Some examples are Kylie, Disclosure, Sam Smith. And companies such as MTV, Spotify, VH1 and more. Throughout the years, Moross has built up a large amount of work in a variety of different areas whilst also working alongside some top brands and companies. Along with working alongside Topshop on a clothing line, billboard campaign with Cadburys, and illustrations featured in Vogue magazine. Common themes that are presented within their work include abstract shapes and patterns. The majority of their work is very bold and colourful, with contrasting shades. Their combination of freeform typography mixed with these colours and patterns makes their work unique and recognisable amongst others. In terms of Moross’ design process and inspiration, they state, ‘I guess colour is my brand. Why be boring? Why be the same as everyone else? For me, cool isn’t about being trendy- it’s about self-expression and a lack of self- consciousness about what other people think.’.
- 5. Work By Aries Moross: Kiehl's Moross has worked on a variety of projects for Kiehl's. From Christmas and Mother's Day collections to collaborations with Disney or other events, most of this work consists of colourful typography and simple illustrations of different shapes and patterns. Warner Records Logo Takeover This logo was created as a variation to the original made by Saul Bass. This has a more cartoonised style, with contrasting colours and shapes coming around the sides of the logo. Spice Girls Spice World Tour (2019) Moross, along with Studio Moross, created the promotion and the visuals for the Spice World tour. They created a tour logo, as shown on the posters on the left which is cohesive with the stage design. The stage design and the logo is shaped like a globe in order to coincide with the tour name 'Spice World'. The colour scheme is rainbow colours, with the posters alternating in colours but with a more muted tone. Moross was the art director of this project. Parklife (2020) Aries and Studio Moross created the branding for Parklife festival. Together they designed all the logos, posters, and an announcement film. This branding is made mostly of typography and cartoon illustrations. There is a common theme throughout their work of this typography style and the theme of contrasting bright colours and illustrations.
- 6. Henock Sileshi Henock Sileshi (also known as HK) is a 27-year-old graphic designer from Jacksonville, Florida. He is best known for being the creative director for musical group ‘BROCKHAMPTON’. He started out with an initial interest in the sports industry and NBA, until he was asked by a friend to design a mixtape cover which he made with an online photo editor. After his friend's positive response to the task, he ended up researching the best way to make mixtape covers and after purchasing Photoshop he ‘ended up opening the pandora’s box- looking endlessly through online tutorials. And that was it, he was hooked.’. He then became known on Tumblr as ‘HKCovers’ in which he recreated album and single covers of various artists. ‘If it wasn’t for people like Virgil Abloh contributing work to Kanye and Kid Cudi albums and seeing his name credited, it all clicked and I told myself ‘I want to be this!’’. After Kevin Abstract posted on a Kanye West forum asking if anyone wanted to form a band, HK responded volunteering his talents in graphic design as part of the group, he has worked with BROCKHAMPTON ever since. Whether he is making album or single covers, editing music videos, or creating merch, HK is one of the main creative directors in the group and creates the majority of their visuals along with the help of some other members. In terms of his creative process, HK most often likes to experiment with his work, starting on one thing and seeing where it takes him. ‘A lot of my process is trying something I know and then going to places I've never been, just clicking around until I feel harmony.’ As creative director, he is given a lot of freedom when creating visuals for the group, he says that he feels best sticking to his intuition and designing art that he feels fits best with the band's aesthetic, as well as something his friends will enjoy, ‘the amount of responsibility I get and control I have allowed me to treat work like a playground’.
- 7. Work By Henock Sileshi: BROCKHAMPTON Album/Single Covers Throughout his time of being part of BROCKHAMPTON, HK has designed all of the album/single covers and promo for the music they have released. His design style alternates depending on the style of the music and the aesthetic of that era but overall, his work can be recognised throughout these covers as he most often opts for bold text and a contrasting iridescent colour scheme. Merchandise HK designed all the merch for the group also. This merchandise corresponds with the style and aesthetic of each album and their album covers. For example, with the t- shirt shown above, the design matches the iridescent colour scheme of the cohesive album cover.
- 8. Silent House Silent House is a production company that was formed in 2010. Based in Los Angeles, US, this company creates production and design for a variety of media, but their main highlight is visuals for live events such as concerts, award shows, etc. Silent House consists of four main partners; Alex Reardon (president), Baz Halpin (founder and CEO), Cory Fitzgerald, and Tamlyn Wright. Titling themselves as the ‘one stop shop for entertainment’, they have worked with some of the biggest names in music from Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Harry Styles, Tyler the Creator and more. Within Silent House, they deal with designing and producing every aspect of a concert/live event. This consists of set design, lighting, special effects, scenic elements, etc. and, according to Forbes, were involved in around 100 performances pre pandemic. In terms of their creative process, Alex Reardon talks about how it all starts with that initial meeting with the artist, ‘don’t come to me with a laundry list because then we end up designing something that looks like everyone else’s show’. They like to discuss ideas with the artists and find their emotions linked to the project, this inspires them to create something unique to the artists and becomes well known. They also then look into their previous music videos and promotion to gain more knowledge about the artist and their aesthetic. They create their set designs with a combination of physical materials to build the set, as well as lighting projections and designing visuals for the screens using a variety of software such as Notch to allow them to follow the artist along throughout their performance whilst generating live visuals.
- 9. Bibliography Saul Bass: • n/a. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://areaofdesign.com/saul-bass/. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. • Will Hersey. (2020). Remembering the Designer Who Changed Cinema. Available: https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/a34169582/remembering-saul-bass-the-designer- who-changed-cinema/. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. • Matthew McCarthy. (2015). Saul Bass Archive. Available: https://filmartgallery.com/pages/saul-bass-archive . Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. • Jyni Ong. (2018). The Saul Bass Archive looks back on the trailblazer’s rare poster design. Available: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/the-saul-bass-archive-rare-poster- design-work-graphic-design-081118. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. • Patricia Bauer. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saul-Bass. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. • n/a. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. • n/a. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/saul-bass. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. • Alex Bigman. (2012). Saul Bass: The man who changed graphic design. Available: https://99designs.co.uk/blog/famous-design/saul-bass-graphic-designer-of-a-century/. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022. Aries Moross: • n/a. (2021). Studio Moross. Available: https://stamps.umich.edu/events/aries-moross. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022 • n/a. (2012). About Studio Moross. Available: https://www.studiomoross.com/. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022. • n/a. (2019). Aries Moross. Available: https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/kate-moross. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022. • n/a. (2021). Aries Moross on design with a difference. Available: https://www.moo.com/blog/uk/interviews/aries-moross-on-design-with-a-difference. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022. • n/a. (n.d). Studio Visit with Aries Moross. Available: https://theymadethis.co.uk/blogs/journal/studio-visit-kate-moross. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022.
- 10. Bibliography Henock Sileshi: • Ruby Boddington. (2021). Henock Sileshi on designing for Brockhampton, and learning to trust his instincts. Available: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/henock- sileshi-brockhampton-graphic-design-170621. Last accessed 11th Feb 2022. • Jorge Cotte. (2018). Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Brockhampton (But Were Afraid to Ask). Available: https://www.complex.com/music/2018/03/brockhampton-explained/why-brockhampton-is-called-a-boyband. Last accessed 11th Feb 2022. Silent House: • n.a. (2010). We are Silent House. Available: https://www.silent-house.com/. Last accessed 21st Feb 2022. • Chris Willman. (2021). Baz Halpin’s Silent House Expands, Adds Mark Bracco, Linda Gierahn as New Production Company’s Heads. Available: https://variety.com/2021/music/news/baz-halpin-silent-house-group-expands-1234966128/amp/. Last accessed 21st Feb 2022 • Eric Fuller. (2021). Silent House Productions President Alex Reardon On Live Event Technology.Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericfuller/2021/02/11/the-silent- house-grows-louder/amp/. Last accessed 21st Feb 2022. • Dani Deahl. (2020). HOW TO DESIGN A TOUR GOOD ENOUGH FOR KATY PERRY, TAYLOR SWIFT, OR J.LO. Available: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/24/21074821/silent-house-productions-tour-design-katy-perry-taylor-swift-j-lo-grammys. Last accessed 21st Feb 2022.