Good Example Of Typography-Analysis Essay Essay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sA1en26sgM

The typeface used for the “Anatomy of a murder” by Saul Bass is Alternate Gothic. It is combined with Duke Ellington’s music and it is very appropriate for the movie title. The typeface is well combined with the drawing of a dismembered body which insinuated that a murder has been committed.
The combination of colors is white, grey and black, with the letters being white as opposed to the grey background and black illustration. Since the main theme is a murder, the drawing of a dismembered body suggests that there has been a murder. The body is black. The letters are white. That contrast evokes a morbid feeling and therefore is a good choice.
Saul Bass has communicated the message excellently with his design because it has been used in many films afterwards, one of the most famous being “The Shining” by Kubrick.
The point size of this font is mostly large, especially when the names of the actors are written. Line length is short, which creates a feeling of brutality. It is connected with murder. There is a good relationship between the style of the font and its anatomy and the music used for the opening title sequence.
As for tracking, there are no particularly big gaps between the words. We can see each word clearly.
The space between the letters, kerning, is usual and a person gets the feeling that they are reading a newspaper. The title of the movie is similar to a title that could be seen in a magazine article.
The baseline is different in the title at the beginning of the sequence than in the rest of the video clip. There is a discrepancy between those letters and the letters that represent the names of the artists.
The cap height is medium. It is large with block letters in the names of the actors. The x-height varies throughout the clip. There is no serif. A descender is normal and it seems to be tidy. All the letters are in the same line, except for those that spell the title of the film. They seem to be freestyle. The ascenders are also typical, normal.

The purpose of this project was to create a mysterious feeling attached to the genre of the movie.

I would have used Arial Black because it is darker and the emotions it would evoke would bring more mystery. It is neo-grotesque sans-serif font and it is purposeful for this occasion. That is the main weakness to Saul’s design – the fact that his letters are not bold enough. I would change that. It would provoke a feeling of fear and make tension.
All in all I Saul Bass was a genial designer whose work has been borrowed for many films afterwards. Nowadays it is easier to create new fonts and typography with the help of computers. Nobody has to do it manually anymore.
I would always choose to support the message because it would point out the tone of the film even more. The emotion of the type and the message should be the same in this case. That would be my choice.
Since Saul’s design has survived the test of time, I believe that he was highly successful.

Works cited:

“Saul Bass Title Sequence – Anatomy of a murder (1959)”, YouTube, Feb. 2011. Web. April. 2015.