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UPDATED: Saul Bass Inspires YouTubers, Designers and More.

above: Designer Saul Bass (1920-1996) and some of his famous work

For those of you who are unfamiliar with designer Saul Bass (and shame on you!), let me start by introducing you to some of his most famous title sequences:

Anatomy of A Murder:

Ocean's 11:

Bunny Lake IS Missing:

The site Not Coming To A Theater Near You has a wonderful feature on all of Saul Bass' title design sequences.

Saul Bass has always been heralded as an amazing designer. He worked with directors like Otto Preminger and Alfred Hitchcock repeatedly and was and is highly regarded as one of the best graphic designers of all time. Now, some very clever and creative folks have been making their own versions of Saul Bass' famous graphics and sharing them on youtube.

"If Star Wars was filmed two decades earlier and Saul Bass did the opening title sequence, it "might" look like this...

This was part of a school project. The song is "Machine" by the Buddy Rich Band off the album Big Swing Face (1967). Note: I'm aware of the errors in the video (spelling, Max Rebo), but I chose to leave them because the video is still enjoyable. This was just for fun and NOT a serious artistic endeavor! Oh, and you MUST watch the video response by brooksy362436. Brilliant!"

--YouTuber Bhilmers, age 36, USA

So, of course, I then had to see the video response by You Tuber Brooksy362436 (Daniel, age 33, UK):

"The original video is utterly fantastic, but since it has been made there have been huge technical advancements. Now the video can be remade exactly how the author intended it all those weeks ago. "

And here are some other wonderful youtube homages to Saul Bass' style:

Titanic Vs. Saul Bass

Dark Knight Vs. Saul Bass:

Jurassic Park Title Saul Bass Style:

So, now that I got the Saul Bass bug, I did a little more surfing and found some fun posts and items. The blog, Focus Pull, has a great post on 10 contemporary movie posters that were inspired by Saul Bass. See them here.

Above: Before The Devil Knows You're Dead movie poster clearly influenced by Saul Bass' movie posters for Anatomy Of A Murder and Man With The Golden Arm

There are many wonderful contemporary illustratos who have been inspired by Saul Bass.
Two of my favorites are:
Olly Moss
Hexagonall

Feeling inspired? Try creating some Saul bass work of your own, especially now that you can download the "Hitchcock" font in Mac postscript or Windows designed by Matt Terich and available from Typographica here.

Learn more and see more about Saul Bass:
Saul Bass tv
Saul Bass on Wikipedia Saul Bass bio at Design Museum Saul Bass Logos and trademarks Saul Bass on the web

Art Vespa 2008 Competition Winners Announced

Last week the 2007/8 Art Vespa Competition competition in South Africa came to an end.

The interactive email campaign, created by Vespa South Africa and advertising partner, Guerrilla Marketing, invited art directors and designers to embellish the two-wheeler with their concepts. Best of all, participants have the chance to drive home on a brand new Vespa LX.

The top three designs, judged by international designer Francesco Maffe from Piaggio, Italy, will be on display at the Design Indaba Expo from 23 February 2008.

The winners were announced on 25 February at 3pm.

Rory Allan from Ripe Design has won the 2008 Art Vespa competition with his ice cream design and will soon be zipping through the city on his deliciously personalised Vespa LX.

Allan submitted more than one design, but it was his striking Ice Cream creation that caught the eye of Francesco Maffe, international designer for Piaggio Italy, and judge of Art Vespa. The design took him three hours to complete.When asked what motivated him to enter, Allan replied “Our creative director presented the competition to all the creatives at Ripe Design and urged us to enter. It's an out of the ordinary canvas for designers that got my creative juices flowing almost immediately.”

The inspiration for his design was South Africa's hot summer afternoons. “I sat down and thought of why it's great to own a Vespa. The first thing that popped into my mind was the wind blowing through your hair on a sweltering afternoon. Almost as refreshing as an ice cream.”

To Allan, Vespa is synonymous with carefree living, summer holidays and good times with those who are important in your life. “It symbolises a laid-back lifestyle, where life is about more than work. It's about experiencing and being part of the world. And ice cream of course.”

First place winner Rory Allen of Ripe Design:

Second place winner Hazel Davies from Momentum, McCann:

Third place winner Mandi Brest from Penguin International:

A record number of 252 entries were received for the 2008 competition, a 40% increase from last year. Watch out for the 2009 competition later this year. You too could become part of the la dolce vita lifestyle and scoot around on your own Art Vespa in the near future.

For more information, go to www.vespa.co.za.

Comenius Roethlisberger's Sweetest Invitation. Cocaine and Sugar Luxury Brand Logos.

Above: Artist Comenius Roethlisberger, b. 1971

There seems to be no end to artists combining fashionista with drugs. In addition to Tobias Wong and Big Game's Commentary on society's obsession with wealth and debauchery, provocative Swiss artist Comenius Roethlisberger has recently been exhibiting his latest commentary on luxury and society, “Dearest constellation, sweetest invitation” at Colette in France as well as at the Saatchi Galleries. The installation merges famous luxury brand logos with sugar powder and cocaine, all presented in clear polyester resin boxes, lit from below.

“chanel” cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

“dior” cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

“D&G” cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

“Gucci” cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

“Versace” cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

“YSL” cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

“Lamborghini” cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

“911 GT2″ cocaine, sugar, polyster resin (45cm x 35cm x 12cm) edition 1 + 1AP

Visit the artist's site.

A Modern Home: From Concept to Tour

Way back in Sept. of 2006, ultra hip MoCo Loco Meta:MoCo, posted a blurb about a redo/enlargement of a family home in Southern California by Neil Denari Architects of Los Angeles:

+ NMDA, Neil M. Denari Architects' Alan Family House renovation / extension project. “The family has asked that 1,000 sf be added to the site in addition to the existing 1,000 sf house. They have also asked that the architecture serve to articulate their identity as a ‘family brand’ that is unique to their unit.”. See Current Projects> Alan Family House.

Curbed, a fabulous online site about Los Angeles neighborhoods and surroundings, then shared these conceptual renderings with their readers:

The Alan Voo house was actually completed in 2007 and below are the actual photos below (you'll see they made a good call and toned down the 'bright' colors a bit) and even take a tour through the home at this year's CA Boom show.

ALAN-VOO HOUSE
The AlanVoo house by NEIL M. DENARI ARCHITECTS
LOS ANGELES, CA, COMPLETED in 2007
(the text and images below are from the architecture firm's site)

The clients for this house renovation / extension, a couple with three daughters, are a creative, democratic unit. The father directs film trailers, the mother is a graphic designer and illustrator, while the high school / middle school / elementary school aged daughters are all immersed in their own versions of their parents visual cultures. The family have asked that 1,000 sf be added to the site in addition to the existing 1,000 sf house.

The scheme leaves half of the house for the daughter’s bedrooms and incorporates the other half plus new extensions in front and back into a public zone and a private bedroom for the parents. This strategy amounts to a new 16 ft wide linear house being inserted into the existing house. Multi-toned, bright colors accentuate the new pieces which suggests a graphic expression representative of the family’s interests.