Saul Bass, Trademarks, Film Title Designer

LOS ANGELES Saul Bass, a graphic designer who createdinternationally known trademarks for United Airlines and AT&T andinnovative film titles for such features as "Vertigo" and "Psycho,"has died. He was 75.

Mr. Bass, chairman and creative director of his Bass; Yager &Associates design firm, died Thursday of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma atCedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Among his myriad accolades was a 1968 Academy Award for bestdocumentary short subject for his film "Why Man Creates." Mr. Basswas also nominated for Oscars for "Notes on the Popular Arts" in 1977and "The Solar Film" in 1979.Mr. Bass also designed logos and trademarks for the Girl Scoutsof America and, recently, the Motion Picture Centennial Committee setup to observe the 100th anniversary of film. He also designed theposters for the five most recent Academy Awards ceremonies.A book about his work, Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design byfilm critic Joe Morgenstern is scheduled for publication inSeptember.With the famous crooked arm for the 1955 Frank Sinatra filmabout drug addiction, "The Man with the Golden Arm," Mr. Bassrevolutionized films' previously mundane opening title sequences.He continued to develop the genre he created, with a fallingpetal becoming a tear on a girl's face in "Bonjour Tristesse," ayoung black cat prowling alleys in "Walk on the Wild Side" throughthe stark whirling red titles of "GoodFellas."Mr. Bass made the title sequence into more than stylishtypography - turning it into visual shorthand introducing the storyand suggesting key ideas and themes. In "Psycho," for example, Mr.Bass' jagged titles presaged the film's landmark shower scene."I style the total design around a film - short, that is, of thefilm itself," he said in 1958. "I create a symbol for it, one thatcan be used in every possible way from title to campaign and that canbecome a key to the film itself. This is my real concern: to giveeach film a unique individuality.""Packaging," he said about trademarks 30 years later, "is theproduct."Among other well-loved films with the Bass touch were "West SideStory," "The Seven Year Itch," "Anatomy of a Murder," "North byNorthwest," "Broadcast News," "Big" and last year's "Casino."Mr. Bass made one feature length motion picture, "Phase IV" in1974, and he and his wife, Elaine Bakatura, co-directed a 1984 shorttitled "Quest" which won the Moscow Film Festival's Gold Medal.At the time of his death, he served on the Academy of MotionPicture Arts & Sciences board of governors.His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of ModernArt in New York, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institutionand several museums in Europe.A native of New York, Mr. Bass was educated at the Art StudentsLeague and Brooklyn College.In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, twodaughters and a granddaughter.