Ed Benguiat (1927-2020)
Born Ephram Edward Benguiat in 1927, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, playing with his father's drawing materials. Before the Second World War he had a promising career as a jazz percussionist, and he picked this up again after serving with the Air Corp during the war, which he joined with the aid of a forged birth certificate. However, acknowledging that a music career could see him still playing at bar mitzvahs as an old man, he used the GI bill to go to college. He enrolled at the Workshop School of Advertising Art, training as an illustrator.
After his studies he changed tack, working as a graphic designer and art director. And he was a prolific typeface designer, with over 600 typefaces to his credit, including ITC Tiffany, ITC Bookman, ITC Panache, and the eponymous ITC Benguiat, as well as logotypes for The New York Times, Playboy, and Sports Illustrated. He was also credited with playing an important role in the establishment of ITC.
His work won him acclaim, including a gold medal from the New York Type Directors Club, and the prestigious Fredric W. Goudy Award. He was also an avid pilot with his own personal plane.
[LC, October 2009]
