William Golden was educated in New York's Vocational School for Boys. After a short time spent working in California, Golden returned to New York and spent a year working at Conde Nast, working under M.F. Agha. In 1937 he joined CBS Radio Network and three years later was appointed Art Director. He married designer Cipe Pineles in 1944 and spent the period during World War II in Europe designing Army training manuals. After the war he returned to CBS and in 1951 was appointed Creative Director of Advertising and Sales Promotion. Golden's best known creation was CBS's corporate identity and the logo “eye”. He received the AIGA medal in 1988. He was a pioneer in corporate identity primarily through his philosophy of producing consistently excellent graphic communication and tying this in with the corporate image. He was influential in the design world by upgrading the role and responsibility of the designer within the corporate world.