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Billie J

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John Hamilton’s scribbled portrait on the proof copy of ‘The Book Of Dave’, as a guide for where to place my drawing of Will Self.

John Hamilton’s scribbled portrait on the proof copy of ‘The Book Of Dave’, as a guide for where to place my drawing of Will Self.

John Hamilton

March 2, 2020

It’s just been over a year since the incredibly sad and untimely death of the Penguin art director John Hamilton.

I was commissioned by John to do three book covers over the years. I went in to see him at Penguin on these various occasions to discuss the projects. On the first meeting, he noticed me looking at a print in his office which was sitting on the floor, leaning up against a wall - it read in bold type ‘CUNT’. “Yeah, I’m not allowed to hang that up on the wall,” he said wistfully. There was a long pause before I nodded tentatively and replied, “Mmm……well, I think it’s probably for the best, John.”

I enjoyed my meetings with John and we always chatted about everything and anything - from the commercialisation of football, his beloved Rangers FC, Glasgow, food and our kids - before concentrating on the task at hand. He was never overly prescriptive with his art direction, gave me free rein with the type, and always retained a schoolboy enthusiasm when seeing my ideas and final artwork.

Cunt, he most certainly was not, but a lovely man and brilliant art director, he most certainly was.

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