Something to Remember

I have known that logo design is a particularly challenging aspect of design.  The parameters of what a logo needs to be are very constraining, and trying to be creative in those parameters is indeed difficult.  One of my favorite logo designs is the AT&T logo from 1986 designed by Saul Bass.

I remember seeing this logo on the AT&T commercials as a child.  The design is so simple, but elegant and pleasing to look at.  A circle, or globe, with horizontal white bands moving across it; the changing line weights giving the illusion of depth.  My eye would move around the implied line making the reflection of light on the globe.  A two color logo, using negative space, simple, bold and memorable.  This is what logo design is.  The new AT&T logo has expounded on the original idea; and while it gains a certain dynamic quality, it has sacrificed the simple elegance of the original logo.  Design has proven to me to be a series of decisions.  There are multiple ways you can reach an outcome, but which way do you choose? What do you decide to keep and what do you discard?  How will this ultimately effect your design?  

      

The designer of this logo, Saul Bass, has designed quite a few memorable logos. Case in point.

You will know what the logos represent for at least ten of these designs, and recognize that you have at least seen the rest.  

Bass became a well respected designer for the movie industry.  Designing movie posters and film title sequences, he helped establish the tone for the audience's initial moments with a movie.  Becoming widely know in the industry after designing the title sequence for Otto Preminger's, The Man with the Golden Arm, he went on to design the title sequences for North by Northwest, Around the World in 80 Days, and Goodfellas.  Bass was involved in aspects of design in the film industry and ultimately was a filmmaker himself.  He was a sought after "visual consultant" for films like Spartacus, Grand Prix, and West Side Story.

Being a designer of such a high caliber, Bass has a distinction in logo design specifically.  Corporate logos designed by Bass have unusual longevity.  The demise of a Bass logo is more likely due to the company disbanding rather than a logo redesign.  From Saul Bass's Wikipedia page, the average age of one of his logos is 34 years and counting. Quite the achievement in an age where what is in and out of style changes on a minute by minute bases.