18 Facts About Ed Benguiat

Ephram Edward Benguiat was an American type designer and lettering artist.

Ed Benguiat designed over 600 typefaces, including Tiffany, Bookman, Panache, Souvenir, Edwardian Script, and the eponymous Benguiat and Benguiat Gothic.

Ed Benguiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 27,1927, to Rose Nahum and Jack Ed Benguiat.

Ed Benguiat's mother was a driver with the Red Cross, and his father was a display director in the department store chain Bloomingdale's.

Ed Benguiat was exposed to design elements as early as nine, with access to his father's design tools.

Ed Benguiat was stationed in Italy as a radio operator, and later performed photo reconnaissance.

Ed Benguiat started out his career as a jazz percussionist playing in bands with the likes of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman.

Ed Benguiat started his design career by working, in his words, as a "cleavage retoucher" during the restrictive period after World War II, when the Hays Code imposed restrictions on nudity in motion pictures.

Ed Benguiat's role involved airbrushing and other techniques to do away with nudity in published works.

Ed Benguiat went on to study graphical design, calligraphy, and typography at the Workshop School of Advertising Art under the Russian-American graphical artist and calligrapher Paul Standard.

Ed Benguiat was hired as a designer by Esquire magazine in 1953 and subsequently went on to join Photo Lettering Inc as a design director in 1962.

Ed Benguiat helped set up the International Typeface Corporation in 1970, as an independent licensing company and served as a vice president.

Ed Benguiat was a teacher at the School of Visual Arts, in New York, starting in 1961 and serving for over 50 years.

Ed Benguiat was inducted into the Art Directors Hall of Fame in 2000.

Ed Benguiat was married to Elisa Ed Benguiat for 38 years until his death.

Ed Benguiat died on October 15,2020, twelve days before his 93rd birthday, at his home in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.

Ed Benguiat was an avid hobby pilot and was a member of a flying club called 'The Flying Birdmen'.

The Ed Benguiat Font Collection is a casual font family designed by Benguiat and released by House Industries.