Sometimes when an idea flashes, you distrust it because it seems too easy. You qualify it with all kinds of evasive phrases because youโre timid about it. But often, this turns out to be the best idea of all.
Saul BassI want everything we do to be beautiful. I don't give a damn whether the client understands that that's worth anything, or that the client thinks it's worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It's worth it to me. It's the way I want to live my life. I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.
Saul BassTry to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story
Saul BassHave you ever thought that radical ideas threaten institutions, then become institutions, and in turn reject radical ideas which threaten institutions?
Saul BassThere is nothing glamorous in what I do. I'm a working man. Perhaps Iโm luckier than most in that I receive considerable satisfaction from doing useful work which I, and sometimes others, think is good.
Saul BassFailure is built into creativity... the creative act involves this element of 'newness' and 'experimentalism,' then one must expect and accept the possibility of failure.
Saul BassThe ideal trademark is one that is pushed to its utmost limits in terms of abstraction and ambiguity, yet is still readable. Trademarks are usually metaphors of one kind or another. And are, in a certain sense, thinking made visible.
Saul BassMy 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.
Saul BassYou see an artist, a creative person, can accept criticism or can live with the criticism much more easily than with being ignored. Criticism makes you feel alive. If somebody is bothered enough to speak vituperatively about it, you feel you have touched a nerve and you are at least 'in touch.' You are not happy that he doesn't like it, but you feel you are in contact with life.
Saul BassWhether or not you believe in God, you can probably sign on to the idea that being kind to others is divine. Just remember to include yourself in that circle of kindness.
Saul BassThe nature of process, to one degree or another, involves failure. You have at it. It doesnโt work. You keep pushing. It gets better. But itโs not good. It gets worse. You got at it again. Then you desperately stab at it, believing โthis isnโt going to work.โ And it does!
Saul BassI want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares, as opposed to ugly things. That's my intent.
Saul BassInteresting things happen when the creative impulse is cultivated with curiosity, freedom and intensity.
Saul BassYou know, whenever I was presented with a challenge that brought up feelings of fear or self-doubt, I almost always said, 'Yes'.
Saul BassSometimes clients have a sophisticated view of their design problem, sometimes they do not. I often spend time with the client redefining the problem, going back to the beginning. Often the problem is just a symptom. Sometimes you have to move back in order to move forward to understand what the nature of the solution should be.
Saul Bass