Saturday, July 03, 2004
Saul Bass—Marketer By Design.
The upcoming exhibit of Saul Bass’ work at London’s superb Design Museum (opens July 17) has inspired me to start a new category in this blog: one to celebrate innovators and non-traditional shapers of modern-day marketing.
Saul Bass was born in the Bronx in 1920. The son of an emigré furrier, Mr. Bass was a child with creative gifts destined for greatness. Starting out as a traditional commercial artist, he discovered his true calling, and single-handedly created a new marketing medium in what was considered then, the unlikliest of venues: movie posters.
It ws his work for Preminger and Hitchcock, among others, that turned movie posters into an art form, and would inspire generations to come. A little known fact about Saul is that he also designed some of the world’s most recognizable corporate identities and logos.
- Read Mr. Bass’ bio at the Design Museum Web site.
- More details at MSN Celebrities.
- Unofficial Saul Bass design site.
Design has too much of a fluffy context in marketing today. Too often, the context of good design and art is considered to be icing on a strategic cake. How often have you, in your own organization, said, “Let’s get the strategy right first, we can worry about what it looks like later”?
See, most times, and companies continue to prove it daily, marketing lives in the delivery of a strategic vision. Consumers tend to differentiate between offers and competing cries for attention by gravitating towards what floats their boat. Visual identity isn’t just fluff—properly used, it can be a powerful weapon to help drive what gets you in the front door: a willingness to listen, or look.