The best way here to describe Saul Bass is to quote his own words.

"My initial thoughts about what a tittle 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."

"Design is thinking made visual"

....Saul Bass

Saul Bass created title sequences ranging from Otto Preminger's movie about heroin addiction, The Man With The Golden Arm, which was unthinkable in the 50's to Martin Scorsese which moved him to pioneering optical techniques for the title sequence of Casino.

This iconic American graphic designer is worth researching. You will be surprised at how much of his work you actually already know or see on a regular basis. ( Edited by Liesa )  

http://www.notcoming.com/saulbass/index2.php