One reason for this bell logo’s ubiquity? The 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 Bass’ 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 of the design were adopted—including, most memorably, the telephone vans and hardhat designs of the 1970s. Bass designed down to the details, showcasing in this film a myriad of ideas, like 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. And Bass’ later, 1983 design for AT&T (the striped/encircled globe) was the foundation for the logo that the company has today, though redesigned in 2005 by Interbrand.

Produced by Saul Bass

Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

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