Stylogeny combining American Mid-Century Modernism × Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics

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Style combination · Pairs well

American Mid-Century Modernism × Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics

Its print parent, which already counts Bass among its makers: take Rand's or Lustig's cut-paper wit on the page, and the Bass branch when the single idea has to move, assemble in time and set a mood before a story begins.

From the research on Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics

Mix them and make something American Mid-Century Modernism Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics

HelloAmerican Mid-Century × Saul and1940 · 1954
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from American Mid-Century Modernism, their arrangement from Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics, the finish from American Mid-Century Modernism. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

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What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

American Mid-Century Modernism Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics

Type from Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics
Colour from American Mid-Century Modernism
Form from American Mid-Century Modernism
Composition from Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics
Surface from American Mid-Century Modernism

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The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics

Hello

Londrina Solid; Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics used Ragged, paper-cut display lettering with a 'subtly jagged imprecision', drawn and cut in the studio and by freelance letterers and Plain sans-serif credits moved as graphic elements

Text · American Mid-Century Modernism

The American synthesis of European avant-garde form with wit, pragmatism and commercial clients, led by Paul Rand, Alvin Lustig, Lester Beall, Bradbury Thompson and Saul Bass. Asymmetric layouts, cut-paper and collaged shapes, photomontage, playful hand-drawn marks and a few bright flat colours turned book jackets, magazines, advertising, film titles and corporate work into idea-driven visual puns.

Jost; American Mid-Century Modernism used Futura and Bodoni

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The colours

The ground and leading colours come from American Mid-Century Modernism, with a counter-accent from Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

American Mid-Century Modernism Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics

  • #f2ede1 ground · 36%
  • #1a1a1a ink · 14%
  • #e2a83a accent · 18%
  • #e0461f accent · 14%
  • #2f5f8a accent · 10%
  • #5c7a3e accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f2ede1;
  --ink: #1a1a1a;
  --accent-1: #e2a83a;
  --accent-2: #e0461f;
  --accent-3: #2f5f8a;
  --accent-4: #5c7a3e;
  --font-display: "Londrina Solid", cursive;
  --font-text: "Jost", sans-serif;
}

Use it with care

Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics: The posters, title sequences, film scores and corporate marks are in copyright, and several logos are still registered trademarks: borrow the method (one cut symbol, a flat ground, bars that assemble in time), never a specific arm, spiral, dissected body or logo, and do not present new work as a Bass design. Credit Elaine Bass and the letterers where the record names them rather than attributing everything to Saul.

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The two styles

A backpacked hiker stands on a steep, black-and-cream rocky summit against a large golden sun, with blue mountain ranges, forests and pale waterways below. Large condensed lettering at the upper left reads “HIGHER GROUND” in black and red. 1940–1970 · North America American Mid-Century Modernism The American synthesis of European avant-garde form with wit, pragmatism and commercial clients, led by Paul Rand, Alvin Lustig, Lester Beall, Bradbury Thompson and Saul Bass. Asymmetric layouts, cut-paper and collaged shapes, photomontage, playful hand-drawn marks and a few bright flat colours turned book jackets, magazines, advertising, film titles and corporate work into idea-driven visual puns. A large, tilted cream hourglass stands against a black background, with orange angular fragments falling through its narrow middle and accumulating below. Tall, irregular orange lettering beneath it reads “LAST HOUR.” 1954–1995 · North America Saul and Elaine Bass Conceptual Film Graphics The film-title and poster language Saul Bass built in Los Angeles from Preminger's Carmen Jones (1954), later made with Elaine Bass. Instead of star portraits, a film gets one symbol (a jagged arm, a body cut into pieces, a spiral) that runs through the poster and an opening sequence in which bars, cut-paper shapes and ragged hand-cut letters move and assemble to the score and set the mood. Their Scorsese titles, up to Casino (1995), carried the same single metaphor into filmed water, flowers and neon. Kuntzel + Deygas's Catch Me If You Can titles (2002) later transposed its handmade look.

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