Ed Benguiat: Stranger Things, Esquire and the 600 Creations of a Unique Typographer

A retrospective on the prolific typographer and logo designer, featuring some of his most emblematic creations

Ed Benguiat (1924-2020) was an American typographer, designer, and lettering artist whose influence on the creative world is difficult to overstate. In addition to having served as associate director of Esquire magazine—whose logo he designed, he was a prestigious jazz percussionist under the name Eddie Benart, a pilot, a teacher with more than 50 years of experience, and, every now and then, he found the time to retouch some "scandalous" images in magazines.

But, without a doubt, the creative area in which he stood out and left an indelible mark was typography. After studying calligraphy and typography with Paul Standard, he dedicated himself to creating more than 600 different fonts. Not only is he one of the most prolific typographers in the history of design, but each of his creations has been used in many brands, publications, and articles that we all are familiar with. Learn more about his work and discover some of his most important sources.

Snapshots of his life

Ed enjoyed access to a virtually unlimited amount of drawing materials as a child due to his father's work in a department store as exhibition director. From the age of nine, Ed began practicing with lettering and creating posters with his father's tools. Benguiat later stated that this approach did not take him straight into the typographic universe but set the path for him to get there eventually.

Over time, he helped create the International Typeface Corporation (ITC), a licensing organization for typographers. He worked for typography companies such as Photo-Lettering, and Lubalin and Burns, where he developed some of his most representative typefaces.

His most famous creations

Some of his instantly recognizable typefaces are:

• ITC Benguiat
  


• Benguiat Gothic
  


• Tiffany
  


• Bookman
  


• Korinna
  


• Souvenir
  


• Edwardian Script
  


• Panache
  

On MyFonts, you can browse a catalog of 23 of his creations and buy them directly.

Once, during an interview, someone asked him what his favorite font was, and this was his response:

They are all like my children. I like them all, but I don't use them all. In fact, I use Helvetica [laughter], a lot. Or Bodoni. It is a reliable type.
Ed Benguiat

Designs and redesigns that stayed with us

Among some of his most famous typographic logos, whether original or redesigned, are:

• Esquire
(redesign)

• The New York Times
(redesign)

• Playboy
(redesign)

• Sports Illustrated
(redesign)

• AT&T
(under the direction of Saul Bass)

• Ford
(redesign)

• Estée Lauder
  


• The Planet of the Apes
(1968 movie)

• Stranger Things
(ITC Benguiat source was used)

Introductory sequence for the TV show Stranger Things (2016), which uses the ITC Benguiat font:

For the New York Times logo redesign, Benguiat famously did all the work by hand, modifying hundreds of small details that were almost imperceptible to the untrained eye.

In a later interview, he explained the process:

It took me about a week, eight hours a day, and I was looking to recreate the same feeling it gave me before. In terms of music, it's like a bossa nova: you know how it should sound, but you can ruin it if you get too far from the tone. You have to keep up.
Ed Benguiat

Too many new designers replace talent with technology and think that if they have a Mac, they can create a logo or a font. First, you must learn to draw. The computer can't do that for you.
Ed Benguiat

In this interview, Ed Benguiat talks a little more about his career:

English version by @angeljimenez.

You might also be interested in:

– What is Calligraphy and What Materials Do I Need to Get Started?
– The History of Typography: From 11th Century China to the Digital Age
– 10 Basic Typography Design Principles for Creating Memorable Logotypes