Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and previously of New York City, Aubrey Balkind, age 81, passed away in Ojai, California, surrounded by family on Thursday May 15 after a long battle with vascular dementia. An innovative thinker and highly creative businessman, he graduated as a Certified Public Accountant from Witwatersrand University and, with a loan from an uncle, made his way to Columbia University where he earned his MBA.

Making his home in New York and working as a management consultant with Arthur Young, his true love was the creative process. While pursuing photography, he met renowned graphic designer Phil Gips and together they formed Gips+Balkind, a corporate and entertainment communications firm. Phil handled design while Aubrey managed business and finance, eventually becoming a strategic creative director as well. With the addition of Steve Frankfurt, the firm evolved into Frankfurt Gips Balkind and then Frankfurt Balkind with a combined staff of over 160 people in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco — one of the very first integrated communications agencies. 

With Aubrey’s business knowhow he won the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and with his ability to communicate brilliantly with CEOs he was able to push clients’ creative boundaries. This enabled the agency to attract the most talented and forward-thinking designers and writers, winning every industry creative award and dozens of barrier breaking projects such as the launch of CNN, the dayglow Time Warner 1989 Annual Report, the name and identity for Adobe Acrobat, the graphic identity for ESPN, the revitalization campaigns for Grand Central Terminal in NYC and the Los Angeles Getty Museum. And with its iconic movie posters, such as Rosemary’s Baby, Alien, Forrest Gump, and Titanic, the group won more Key Art Awards than any other agency in that category. Upon Frankfurt Balkind’s acquisition the firm spun off its LA office led by Peter Bemis and Aubrey moved there to work with what then became Bemis Balkind, subsequently acquired by InSync entertainment agency. 

Aubrey now could pursue what he had long sought: looking inward at himself and outward towards a society he felt was off-track and too consumer oriented. He moved from Los Angeles to Ojai, California, where he met like-minded people and opened an event space which he named Sane Living Center. Visitors to the center are welcomed by his EVO3 sculpture which tells the story of humanity’s evolution from biological to egotistical to algorithmically motivated beings. 

At Aubrey’s side when he died were his life partner Carol Cilliers Blaschke of Ojai, his son Devin Balkind of New York City and his former wife and business partner Harriett Levin Balkind of New York City. A small service for him was held in Ojai the evening of his death. Larger memorial events will take place in Ojai and New York. Aubrey is survived by his son Devin Balkind, daughter-in-law Hyun Jeong Park and granddaughter Kiju, his brother Jeffrey Balkind and wife Francoise, nephew Marshall and his wife Heather, and niece Emma. His parents, now deceased, were Sydney and Miriam Balkind of Johannesburg, South Africa.