Design Is | An Insight To Saul Bass

Design can mean something different from one person to the next. Whether you are a designer, or you work with designers, you can understand it in completely different ways.

Saul Bass, an American graphic designer, said "design is thinking made visual". Best known for his design of film posters and title sequences, you can see why he thought this. With film, a poster or title sequence must explain not only the story in one image, but the themes and genre that run through it.

Design isn't just how it looks, it's an explanation of what the design is for and is about. 'Symbolize & Summarize' is how Saul Bass put it. This is what he did throughout his film work, most evidently in his work for Hitchcock.

Even when design has a purpose, which most of the time it does, there's always an element of artistry and care that goes into a designer's work. Saul Bass said "I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares." and I think deep down that's what we all want. Whether it's for a client, or for ourselves, there's a feeling that what you're creating is a form of art and like everything in life, you can't please everybody so it's better to go with what you think, or even know, is right.

What do you think of design? Do you agree with Saul Bass?

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You can also send us your thoughts in word or design form on our What Is Design? site!