On May 8, 1920, one of the most iconic and influential graphic designers, Saul Bass, was born. Creating posters and opening film sequences for classics like Pyscho, North By Northwest, Vertigo, Anatomy of a Murder, West Side Story, Cape Fear, Goodfellas, Casino, and countless more, we give a nod to the legend who passed away in 1996. Here is a collection of his great posters, and a few of our favorite opening title sequences... enjoy. Even Google got into the mix with a fantastic ode to Mr Bass on their search page... 

We love a good opening sequence, so much so that we could have stopped watching The Darjeeling Limited after 3 minutes and that Kinks song. Opening credits are important, whether Woody Allen's simple text treatments or Hitchcock's more ominous, playful openers. "THE FILM before THE FILM is a short documentary that traces the evolution of title design through the history of film. This short film was a research project at the BTK (Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule) that takes a look at pioneers like Saul Bass, Maurice Binder and Kyle Cooper by showing the transitions from early film credits to the inclusion of digital techniques, a resurgence of old-school style, and filmmakers' love of typography in space."

One of the undeniable legends of poster design and cinema, Saul Bass, has a retrospective exhibition, Bass Notes: The Film Posters of Saul Bass, up at Kemistry Gallery in London through March, 17. Having basically created the template to a modern movie poster, Bass' canon is so iconic that your favorite classic movie poster was probably designed by Bass, or someone borrowing his style. Images and information after the jump . . .