AT&T Archives: Saul Bass Pitch Video for Bell System Logo Redesign

For more from the AT&T Archives, visit http://techchannel.att.com/archives

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 U.S., ever. The redesign covered:

* 135,000 Bell system vehicles
* 22,000 buildings
* 1,250,000 phone booths
* 170,000,000 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. But a great many were—including, 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.

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 AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• AT&T Archives
• AT&T
• History
• Design
• Invention
• Innovation
• Logo
• Bell System
• Saul Bass
• 1960s

[ariw2003net]

Wow. He was right - that logo stayed iconic for years, even after the breakup. I also liked the Magical Mystery Tour track at the end.

[faenor]

MADMEN!

[kingdickthefirst]

Nice use of Walter Carlos's then-new moog music.

[SpudMills]

The Bell vans with the grey-green/white paint and blue/mustard stripes is probably my favorite corporate vehicle paint scheme of all time. It's instantly recognizable even in peripheral vision. I never imagined that Saul Bass came up with any of this.

[SpudMills]

I wonder if that was Jack "Howard Sprague" Dodson doing the voice of the guy complaining about his electric toothbrush at 3:09. Sure does sound like him.

[xpez]

Then the govt came and broke up the bell!!!

[jason3fc]

Definitely Iconic. I had a Bell System Telephone installer toy outfit as a kid and I loved it.

[RetroToledo]

@jgrayperry I still see it in town myself. I sorta have to shed a tear here watching this!

(and yet I see one pre-69 logo used less than a mile down the street from my house)

[dmanjdb]

Love the Muzak. LOL

[CaptionKing]

ATT invented the flash mob