January 1, 1970
AT&T Archives: Saul Bass Pitch Video for Bell System Logo Redesign
For more from the AT&T Archives, visit techchannel.att.com Bass’ work in logo design and movie title credit sequences spanned the latter half of the 20th century, with prominent work in each field. He worked closely with AT&T, designing not only the 1970 “bell” logo that was ubiquitous for a decade, but also, upon the divestiture of AT&T, he designed the original “death star” logo, unveiled in 1984. One reason for this bell logo’s ubiquity? That redesign was the largest corporate re-identity program in the US, ever. The redesign covered: * 135000 Bell system vehicles * 22000 buildings * 1250000 phone booths * 170000000 telephone directories This film was made by his company as a presentation to AT&T executives. It would have extended to be shown to the public, but a number of his ideas in the film were not ultimately adopted, like his phone booth designs, and men’s and women’s uniforms. chevrolet dealers . Landscaping . But a great many wereincluding, most memorably, the telephone vans and hardhat designs of the 1970s. He designed down to the details, showcasing in this film a myriad of ideas, right down to the yellow pages book designs, cufflinks for executives, and flags. sears . Bass’ other very recognizable logo designs that persist today include those for Minolta, Girl Scouts of America, Avery International, Geffen Records, Warner Int’l, and many more. Bass’ design for AT&T was the foundation for the logo that the company has today, redesigned in 2005 by Interbrand. Produced by Saul Bass Footage courtesy of …Video Rating: 5 / 5