ITC Benguiat is a decorative
serif
In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ...
typeface designed by
Ed Benguiat and released by the
International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in 1977. The face is loosely based upon typefaces of the
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
period but is not considered an academic revival. The face follows ITC's design formulary of an extremely high
x-height, combined with multiple widths and weights.
The original version of 1977 contained numerous nonstandard
ligatures (such as AB, AE, AH, AK, AR, LA, SS, TT) and alternate shapes for some letters which were not carried into the digital version.
The font family consists of 3 weights at 2 widths each, with complementary italic.
It is also sold as 'Formal 832' by Bitstream.
ITC Benguiat Pro
It is a version released in September 2008. It includes support for Central European and many Eastern European characters.
ITC Benguiat Gothic
ITC Benguiat Gothic is a
sans-serif
In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than seri ...
variant for the original serif font family. Both faces are loosely based upon typefaces of the
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
period but are not considered academic revivals. The face follows ITC's design formulary of an extremely high x-height, combined with multiple widths and weights.
The font family consists of 4 weights at 1 width each, with complementary italic.
It is also sold as 'Informal 851' by Bitstream.
Use in popular culture
In the 1980s, it was the house font for album cover text at
RCA Records.
The font is used on the cover of
1980s Stephen King novels,
The Smiths album ''
Strangeways, Here We Come'', for the book covers of the ''
Choose Your Own Adventure'' series,
The Bitmap Brothers
The Bitmap Brothers are a British video game developer founded in 1987. The company entered the video game industry in 1988 with the scrolling shooter '' Xenon''. They quickly followed with '' Speedball''. Prior to becoming the publisher of ...
game ''
The Chaos Engine'', as well as in the logos of both the
National Assembly of Quebec and the
Melbourne Knights. The typeface is featured in the main titles of the ''Star Trek'' films, ''
Star Trek Generations'' and ''
Star Trek: First Contact'', as well as video game ''
Nier: Automata.'' Paramount's FBI warning, from 1995–present, also uses ITC Benguiat.
The font is also used in the logo of the American rock band
Greta Van Fleet, in the logo for
Netflix show ''
Stranger Things
''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...
'', and in the album art for rapper
Logic's album ''
Supermarket''.
The font is used for the logo ''written and directed by
Quentin Tarantino'' in the beginning of his films.
ITC Benguiat Gothic is also featured in
The Sims 2 PC video game.
See also
*
Korinna
Korinna is a serif typeface, first released by the H. Berthold AG type foundry in 1904. A revival of the typeface was designed in 1974 by Ed Benguiat and Vic Caruso for the International Typeface Corporation (ITC). Their version follows the for ...
, a similarly styled typeface by
Berthold
References
* Lawrence W Wallis. ''Modern Encyclopedia of Typefaces 1960–90''. Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd: 2000. .
* Friedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. ''Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History.'' Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. .
* Macmillan, Neil. ''An A–Z of Type Designers.'' Yale University Press: 2006. .
External links
ITC BenguiatBenguat Gothic display
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benguiat
Serif typefaces
Sans-serif typefaces
International Typeface Corporation typefaces
Photocomposition typefaces
Digital typefaces
Art Nouveau typefaces
Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1978
Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1979
Typefaces designed by Ed Benguiat
Display typefaces