Saul Bass was an influential graphic designer known for his iconic movie posters and title sequences from the 1950s-1960s. Some of his most famous works included posters for films like Vertigo and The Man with the Golden Arm. Bass had a unique style featuring bold typography and abstract shapes/images related to the film's themes. His work helped establish title sequences as an art form. Bass influenced many modern designers and his work is still studied today for its timeless qualities. Aries Moross is a British graphic designer known for colorful, typographic designs and illustrations featuring abstract shapes and patterns. They have designed for various music artists and brands. Moross co-founded design studio Studio Moross and cites self-

1. Contextual Research

2. Saul Bass
Saul Bass is known as one of the most famous and influential graphic designers in the world. Born in May 1920 and died in
April 1996, Bass has designed some of the most iconic corporate logos and well-known movie posters throughout his
lifetime. He was creative as a child and particularly enjoyed drawing. He got his start during college, he went to Brooklyn
College where he attended night classes at the Art Students League, he was taught by the designer Gyorgy Kepes. After
that, he moved to LA and became a freelancer and worked for companies such as Warner Bros, and other advertising
agencies. And eventually established his own private firm ‘Saul Bass & Associates’ in 1952. He had his big break in 1954
when he was hired to design a poster for the film ‘Carmen Jones’ and create a title sequence. He then went on to create a
multitude of iconic logos and posters. Logos such as Kleenex, Girl Scouts, Warner Communications, and Continental
Airlines. Bass also created posters for the film ‘Vertigo’ and ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’, and a title sequence for
‘Anatomy of a Murder’. These are just a few examples of his early work. Some of his final projects were credits for four
Martin Scorsese films. In modern day, film posters or music covers have paid homage to Bass’ work which shows the
influence that he has on graphic design even throughout modern design and constantly evolving trends.
The Saul Bass Archive was started in 2015 by Matthew McCarthy who agrees that Bass’ artwork remains influential within
graphic design in modern day, “Saul’s designs remained unaffected by the prevailing trends in arts commerce of the time. I
think the timelessness of the work comes down to an ability to distill a film’s story, message and atmosphere into a single,
powerful image.” This page allows you to view Bass’ work throughout the years. When discussing the poster designs,
McCarthy states that the designs operate on two levels, “They ‘sell’ the film as well as function as a timeless work of art.
The posters are uncluttered with images of movie stars and devoid of the extraneous, hard-selling text and taglines”. ‘The
Man with the Golden Arm’ poster and title sequence was a pivotal project for him to create. As title sequences at the time
usually consisted of the actors' names listed in front of a plain background, “The Man with the Golden Arm woke everybody
up” (Kyle Cooper). It inspired more title sequences to be made in this way. A lot of Bass’ work featured bold, contrasting
colours and strong typography. This was unique for the time and a bold move for Bass as a lot of posters didn’t stand out
like his did. Throughout his work, you can see that his posters and title sequences had bold colours, or were made to work
with or around the title. The typography on the posters were often made from his own drawings in order for them to look
more authentic. When asked about his design process, Bass speaks about how he sees the title as a means to transport the
viewer. It is the first impression of the film and allows the audience to have an emotional connection before the film even
starts. “My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film’s story, to
express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film
actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it.” Seeing his work honoured, and how his art
style is re-created and inspired now just shows how important Saul Bass was to graphic design and how he influenced a
new art style that is still referenced to this day.

3. Work By Saul Bass:
Carmen Jones (1954)
This film poster was the poster that
gave Bass his first big break. Once
he created this poster, he was asked
again to design a title sequence for
the movie. This project helped his
work get recognised on a larger scale
in industry and kick started his
career.
The Man with the Golden Arm
(1955)
This film poster and title sequence is
some of his most well-known work.
The title sequence helped influence
how title sequences were displayed
in films. The text and the arm were
drawn by Bass himself and were
centre of the poster to draw the
viewer in. The title sequence is also
featured around this arm image,
which gives connotations to the film.
Vertigo (1958)
This film poster was created featuring
Bass’ iconic typography style. The text
stands out to the audience and is
easily legible. The centre of the poster
features a drawing of a man along
with a spiral drawing coming out from
the centre of the poster. This links in
with the title, as Bass always likes to
base his work around the film title, as
the artwork was designed to give the
viewer feelings of vertigo (dizziness/
like everything is spinning.
These are a just few of the logos made by Bass. The clean and
simplistic design, whilst also being visually appealing allows these
logos to stand the test of time and remain consistent within the
branding on these companies throughout the years. (Logos include,
Girl Scouts, Continental Airlines, Kleenex and Warner
Communications)

4. Aries Moross
Aries Moross is a British graphic designer and illustrator based in London. They are typically recognised for their abstract art
style with bold, contrasting colours, as well as their typographic illustrations. Their main inspirations for graphic design
started when they were a child, they always enjoyed drawing and grew up around a family that encouraged creativity and
displayed lots of artwork with geometric shapes and patterns. “It wasn’t like they just got the crayons out for the children,
it was something we did anyway. Also, I grew up with a lot of visual stuff around me, my aunt is an artist and in the 80s she
used to make really geometric paper pieces.” After studying at Wimbledon University of Arts and then also achieving their
Bachelor of Arts degree from Camberwell University of Arts, they launched a vinyl only record label called Isomorph
Records. This was set up to allow Moross to study the dynamics between music and design. This label launched several
artists such as ‘Cutting Pink with Knives’, ‘Pictureplane’, and more. However, this label and website was taken down in 2012.
In place, Studio Moross was launched. Moross set up this design studio that contain a team of people who focus on
branding, prints, and moving images which is led by Moross as the art director. As a team they have worked on projects
with a variety of musical artists and companies. Some examples are Kylie, Disclosure, Sam Smith. And companies such as
MTV, Spotify, VH1 and more. Throughout the years, Moross has built up a large amount of work in a variety of different
areas whilst also working alongside some top brands and companies. Along with working alongside Topshop on a clothing
line, billboard campaign with Cadburys, and illustrations featured in Vogue magazine.
Common themes that are presented within their work include abstract shapes and patterns. The majority of their work is
very bold and colourful, with contrasting shades. Their combination of freeform typography mixed with these colours and
patterns makes their work unique and recognisable amongst others. In terms of Moross’ design process and inspiration,
they state, ‘I guess colour is my brand. Why be boring? Why be the same as everyone else? For me, cool isn’t about being
trendy- it’s about self-expression and a lack of self- consciousness about what other people think.’.

5. Work By Aries Moross:
Kiehl's
Moross has worked on a variety of projects
for Kiehl's. From Christmas and Mother's Day
collections to collaborations with Disney or
other events, most of this work consists of
colourful typography and simple illustrations
of different shapes and patterns.
Warner Records Logo Takeover
This logo was created as a variation to
the original made by Saul Bass. This
has a more cartoonised style, with
contrasting colours and shapes
coming around the sides of the logo.
Spice Girls Spice World Tour (2019)
Moross, along with Studio Moross, created the
promotion and the visuals for the Spice World
tour. They created a tour logo, as shown on the
posters on the left which is cohesive with the
stage design. The stage design and the logo is
shaped like a globe in order to coincide with the
tour name 'Spice World'. The colour scheme is
rainbow colours, with the posters alternating in
colours but with a more muted tone. Moross was
the art director of this project.
Parklife (2020)
Aries and Studio Moross created the
branding for Parklife festival. Together
they designed all the logos, posters, and
an announcement film. This branding is
made mostly of typography and cartoon
illustrations. There is a common theme
throughout their work of this typography
style and the theme of contrasting bright
colours and illustrations.

6. Henock Sileshi
Henock Sileshi (also known as HK) is a 27-year-old graphic designer from Jacksonville, Florida. He is best known for being
the creative director for musical group ‘BROCKHAMPTON’. He started out with an initial interest in the sports industry and
NBA, until he was asked by a friend to design a mixtape cover which he made with an online photo editor. After his friend's
positive response to the task, he ended up researching the best way to make mixtape covers and after purchasing
Photoshop he ‘ended up opening the pandora’s box- looking endlessly through online tutorials. And that was it, he was
hooked.’. He then became known on Tumblr as ‘HKCovers’ in which he recreated album and single covers of various artists.
‘If it wasn’t for people like Virgil Abloh contributing work to Kanye and Kid Cudi albums and seeing his name credited, it all
clicked and I told myself ‘I want to be this!’’. After Kevin Abstract posted on a Kanye West forum asking if anyone wanted to
form a band, HK responded volunteering his talents in graphic design as part of the group, he has worked with
BROCKHAMPTON ever since. Whether he is making album or single covers, editing music videos, or creating merch, HK is
one of the main creative directors in the group and creates the majority of their visuals along with the help of some other
members.
In terms of his creative process, HK most often likes to experiment with his work, starting on one thing and seeing where it
takes him. ‘A lot of my process is trying something I know and then going to places I've never been, just clicking around
until I feel harmony.’ As creative director, he is given a lot of freedom when creating visuals for the group, he says that he
feels best sticking to his intuition and designing art that he feels fits best with the band's aesthetic, as well as something his
friends will enjoy, ‘the amount of responsibility I get and control I have allowed me to treat work like a playground’.

7. Work By Henock Sileshi:
BROCKHAMPTON Album/Single Covers
Throughout his time of being part of
BROCKHAMPTON, HK has designed all of the
album/single covers and promo for the music they
have released. His design style alternates depending
on the style of the music and the aesthetic of that
era but overall, his work can be recognised
throughout these covers as he most often opts for
bold text and a contrasting iridescent colour scheme.
Merchandise
HK designed all the merch for the group
also. This merchandise corresponds with
the style and aesthetic of each album and
their album covers. For example, with the t-
shirt shown above, the design matches the
iridescent colour scheme of the cohesive
album cover.

8. Silent House
Silent House is a production company that was formed in 2010. Based in Los Angeles, US, this company creates
production and design for a variety of media, but their main highlight is visuals for live events such as concerts, award
shows, etc. Silent House consists of four main partners; Alex Reardon (president), Baz Halpin (founder and CEO), Cory
Fitzgerald, and Tamlyn Wright. Titling themselves as the ‘one stop shop for entertainment’, they have worked with
some of the biggest names in music from Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Harry Styles, Tyler the Creator and more. Within
Silent House, they deal with designing and producing every aspect of a concert/live event. This consists of set design,
lighting, special effects, scenic elements, etc. and, according to Forbes, were involved in around 100 performances pre
pandemic.
In terms of their creative process, Alex Reardon talks about how it all starts with that initial meeting with the artist,
‘don’t come to me with a laundry list because then we end up designing something that looks like everyone else’s
show’. They like to discuss ideas with the artists and find their emotions linked to the project, this inspires them to
create something unique to the artists and becomes well known. They also then look into their previous music videos
and promotion to gain more knowledge about the artist and their aesthetic. They create their set designs with a
combination of physical materials to build the set, as well as lighting projections and designing visuals for the screens
using a variety of software such as Notch to allow them to follow the artist along throughout their performance whilst
generating live visuals.

9. Bibliography
Saul Bass:
• n/a. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://areaofdesign.com/saul-bass/. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022.
• Will Hersey. (2020). Remembering the Designer Who Changed Cinema. Available: https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/a34169582/remembering-saul-bass-the-designer-
who-changed-cinema/. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022.
• Matthew McCarthy. (2015). Saul Bass Archive. Available: https://filmartgallery.com/pages/saul-bass-archive . Last accessed 9th Feb 2022.
• Jyni Ong. (2018). The Saul Bass Archive looks back on the trailblazer’s rare poster design. Available: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/the-saul-bass-archive-rare-poster-
design-work-graphic-design-081118. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022.
• Patricia Bauer. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saul-Bass. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022.
• n/a. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022.
• n/a. (n.d). Saul Bass. Available: https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/saul-bass. Last accessed 9th Feb 2022.
• Alex Bigman. (2012). Saul Bass: The man who changed graphic design. Available: https://99designs.co.uk/blog/famous-design/saul-bass-graphic-designer-of-a-century/. Last
accessed 9th Feb 2022.
Aries Moross:
• n/a. (2021). Studio Moross. Available: https://stamps.umich.edu/events/aries-moross. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022
• n/a. (2012). About Studio Moross. Available: https://www.studiomoross.com/. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022.
• n/a. (2019). Aries Moross. Available: https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/kate-moross. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022.
• n/a. (2021). Aries Moross on design with a difference. Available: https://www.moo.com/blog/uk/interviews/aries-moross-on-design-with-a-difference. Last accessed 10th
Feb 2022.
• n/a. (n.d). Studio Visit with Aries Moross. Available: https://theymadethis.co.uk/blogs/journal/studio-visit-kate-moross. Last accessed 10th Feb 2022.

10. Bibliography
Henock Sileshi:
• Ruby Boddington. (2021). Henock Sileshi on designing for Brockhampton, and learning to trust his instincts. Available: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/henock-
sileshi-brockhampton-graphic-design-170621. Last accessed 11th Feb 2022.
• Jorge Cotte. (2018). Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Brockhampton (But Were Afraid to
Ask). Available: https://www.complex.com/music/2018/03/brockhampton-explained/why-brockhampton-is-called-a-boyband. Last accessed 11th Feb 2022.
Silent House:
• n.a. (2010). We are Silent House. Available: https://www.silent-house.com/. Last accessed 21st Feb 2022.
• Chris Willman. (2021). Baz Halpin’s Silent House Expands, Adds Mark Bracco, Linda Gierahn as New Production
Company’s Heads. Available: https://variety.com/2021/music/news/baz-halpin-silent-house-group-expands-1234966128/amp/. Last accessed 21st Feb 2022
• Eric Fuller. (2021). Silent House Productions President Alex Reardon On Live Event Technology.Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericfuller/2021/02/11/the-silent-
house-grows-louder/amp/. Last accessed 21st Feb 2022.
• Dani Deahl. (2020). HOW TO DESIGN A TOUR GOOD ENOUGH FOR KATY PERRY, TAYLOR SWIFT, OR
J.LO. Available: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/24/21074821/silent-house-productions-tour-design-katy-perry-taylor-swift-j-lo-grammys. Last accessed 21st Feb
2022.