Greetings. Let's return to the amazing world of AT&T/Bell System-related short films. This one is nothing short of spectacular.
Many of you will recognize the name Saul Bass. He was without a doubt one of the most famous creators of corporate logos, film title sequences, and much more in the last half of the 20th century. I won't even try to begin listing his works -- just Google his name and start reading.
In 1969, Bass pitched to AT&T a total redesign of the Bell System logo branding that had been used by the firm in various forms for many years. Keep in mind that at this time AT&T had a virtual monopoly on phone service in most parts of the U.S. -- you couldn't even legally own your own phones -- you rented them from AT&T.
This is the "pitch" presentation from 1969 that Bass used to sell his idea to AT&T. His redesign was used by AT&T for over a decade starting around 1970, eventually replaced by the globe (aka "Death Star") logo -- also designed by Bass -- around the time of AT&T's divestiture in 1984. Various of the divested operating companies continued to use the 1970 Bell System logo version for many years. Somewhere I have a belt buckle with that logo on it, given to me by a friend at Bell Labs many years ago.
The only significant aspect of Bass' 1970 logo branding design that AT&T didn't adopt was a Bell System "uniform" for employees.
I recommend expanding the "More" link on this video to read the details, and DO read the comments, some of them are absolutely fascinating! Enjoy!
Bell Atlantic was the first corporate sponsor of our high school robotics team, right before they became Verizon. I wish I'd been shrewd enough to keep the shirts we had made; simple white tees with their logo, but it was one of the last official uses of that logo.
Meanwhile, my wife's aunt was a systems manager for them for like four decades. Had an electrician over to check the wiring in their home after she passed away and we ran into some phone reliability issues; electrician was taken aback. They built their own house, and apparently, he tells me, the wiring in the building is office-quality. "This would cost a fortune; I can't imagine why they'd do this for a residential property." My guess is she had some favors she called in and it didn't cost a fortune. ;)
@mtomczak Wonderful!