Where can I get a font of the script used for the ITC® logo?” For almost four decades, this has been one of the most frequently asked questions of ITC. The answer has always been the same: “You can’t. The ITC script logo is handlettering and it is not available as a font.”
Ed Benguiat drew the original logo in the early 1970s. In the mid-80s, ITC asked him to consider expanding the characters in “International Typeface Corporation” into a complete typeface. Benguiat didn’t have the time to devote an undertaking that would have been truly overwhelming before the advent of digital technology.
In 2008, thanks to the robustness of the OpenType® font format, the time seemed right to revisit the project. With Ed Benguiat’s blessings and OpenType’s features, Jim Wasco of Monotype Imaging has developed the Elegy™ typeface. His design embodies the grace, verve and remarkable spirit of the original ITC logo.
First Steps in a Long Journey
Wasco recalls, “From the first time I heard that ITC might be interested in a design based on its logo, I was intrigued. I had always admired the logo and wished there were ‘more of it.’” He acknowledges, “I knew that developing the typeface would present many challenges, but I felt strongly that Ed Benguiat’s lettering deserved to be preserved as a font that graphic designers could take creative advantage of.”
Wasco began the project by drawing the letters in “Hamburgefonstiv.” Type designers commonly use this collection of letters to establish the “control” characters for the rest of a typeface design. “I was able to get most of the letters from the existing ITC logo,” Wasco says. “I used Edwardian Script, another Spencerian script that Ed Benguiat designed, and other Spencerian script models as references for drawing the missing letters.
As Benguiat had predicted, the project proved daunting, encountering numerous problems and setbacks, and ultimately stretching over two years. The first issues Wasco had to tackle were the character weights and their design. Benguiat’s character designs worked fine in the logo, but according to Wasco, “Weights in the lowercase of the original design caused uneven color when used to set other words. They had been drawn to look beautiful as a ‘set,’ and they did. I drew the Elegy characters more even in weight to improve legibility.”
Even More Issues
Character spacing also posed a problem. “The letter spacing in the logo is quite tight,” says Wasco. “A typeface with this spacing would be difficult to read at smaller sizes. After experimenting with the spacing several times, I came up with a compromise that made words easy to read in smaller sizes, but still looked attractive for even very large display copy.”
Wasco also wanted to capture the spontaneous and flowing quality of the logo. “I designed alternatives for each letter specifically to take advantage of OpenType’s contextual alternate feature,” said Wasco. “These give the typeface the look of handwritten letters by substituting alternate lowercase in specific letter combinations. I also designed initial and final strokes for the beginnings and endings of words.”
A Fitting Tribute
The working name for the typeface during the project’s early stages was “ITC Script” - but this was changed to “Elegy” as the design neared completion. The reason for the change? “We wanted to give homage to Aaron Burns, one of the original founders of ITC and the company’s heart and soul during its formative years,” says Wasco. “The typeface is our elegy to the man and his contributions.”
The completed Elegy typeface is a thoroughly contemporary design, incorporating Benguiat’s drop caps, flourishes and details from his original logo. OpenType support has been added for old style figures, arbitrary fractions, proportional numbers, tabular numbers, discretionary ligatures and contextual alternates. The only caveat when using Elegy is that, because of its fine hairline strokes and nuanced qualities, the design performs best above 18-point.
As Elegy neared completion, Benguiat received a preview. His response was overwhelmingly positive. “WOW! It’s absolutely beautiful,” he wrote after seeing copy set in the Elegy font. “Jim Wasco has done a magnificent job of turning my logo into a great typeface design.”