Ken was the only art director I ever worked with who could do backflips. At times of great stress he would backflip into the art room (he had been an amateur gymnast) and diffuse the tension. Ken was this amazing bundle of energy. He respected photography immensely, and it showed in his layouts. After he found out he was HIV positive, he gave up designing and started taking photographs himself. Ken took his job seriously, but he didn’t act as if it were brain surgery. He’d say, “We are producing a magazine that people are just going to throw out at the end of the week.” He had a great perspective on his work. He was just plain fun.
Peter Howe, editor of Outtakes magazine and former picture eoitor of the New York Times Magazine
Kenneth Kendrick was 42 when he died September 12, 1992. Born in South Carolina, he went to New York after graduating from the Atlanta College of Art. During his career, he was associate art director for New York magazine, design director of the National Spanish Television Network, assistant art director and art director of the New York Times Magazine, in charge of the redesign of Self magazine, and designer of a poster for Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign against drugs. He received many awards, including gold medals from the New York Art Directors Club, the Society of Publication Design, the American Institute of Graphie Arts, and the Society of Newspaper Design.
