In 1961, when Saul Bass (1920-1996) designed the graphics for West Side Story, directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, the straightforward style of his opening titles immediately set the scene for the film and in a certain sense suggested its social context: Hispanic Harlem with its urban backdrop of metal fire escapes.

In the sixties, this ability to capture in a single image the graphic style of a film was a major turning point, made possible also by collaborations with leading filmmakers like Otto Preminger (The Man with the Golden Arm, Anatomy of a Murder, Bonjour Tristesse), Hitchcock (North by Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo).

The exhibition “Saul Bass” is a chance to look at his career, from the early work in Los Angeles in the fifties and sixties to the later collaborations with Martin Scorsese. L.B.

17.7.2004-19.9.2004
Saul Bass
Design Museum
Shad Thames, London
T +44-870-833 9955
https://www.designmuseum.org.uk