I recently posted this on Facebook and it got a lot of ‘traction’ as the modern parlance goes. Some history: this drawing was commissioned in around 1979 through my then agents ( yes! I had an agent ) who were called Funny Business. Great name for the artists he represented, sadly he later got involved in a lot of funny business, best gloss over that now. The drawing along with others was for a publication called Creative Handbook, a listings guide of all the ‘creatives’ in the UK. A book used by many art buyers of ad agencies and therefore a great place to advertise your skills. I think a full page cost over a grand in 1979! So we got a page each for free but no fee for the drawing. My drawing is obviously about printing and is my twisted view of what they were like in those far off days. I had visited a printers and must have taken something of that experience with me. They tended to work out of rather broken down she’d like buildings and the printers themselves had a tendency to look like car repair men, their reps wore suits and looked like second hand car salesmen, reeked of aftershave ( Old Spice ) and always said they could print anything ( nudge, nudge, know what I mean? ) I always had the impression that they looked on designers as an effete waste of time, and illustrators even more so.

In the drawing are references to people I knew and how printers were perceived. How strange it is today that when I hit 58 years old I went to work for a printer in Gloucester. It looked nothing like this. Some areas did but generally a modern well equipped factory, and they did not print bank notes! I learnt later not to make jokes about printers and forged bank notes, some very good printers fell foul of the temptation to print them, or knew someone who had. One client of mine in Gloucester, a delightful charming man who ran a small business providing MOTs for cars once told me he’d been a printer. When I asked him why he gave it up he told me a long holiday in Dartmoor persuaded him.

I can date this drawing too by the fact that the other figures in there are Jim Coley and Colin Porter. Jim is the blond guy. Also, on the print machine their name is on the side of the press. At the time I was ‘renting’ desk space from them close to Tottenham Court Road as they were a small start-up design group and said I could have some desk space to make it look a bit busier. I’d been at college with Jim and we’d lived in the same house in Manchester. He was a brilliant graphic designer who had worked for a couple of the leading design groups of that era and had decided to start his own company, together with his friend and fellow designer Colin, and Sally Bell who looked after the admin and kept an eye on them. Coley Porter Bell started then and still exists! Sadly a year or so later after this drawing, Jim died from a brain tumour, Colin and Sally soldiered on and eventually made a massive success of the business. Coley Porter Bell are now what’s called a brand agency and very successful by all accounts. Colin and Sally have no connection to the business any more, but the company they founded still has their name on it. You’d think as they are a branding agency, they might have changed their name.

At this time I was riding high in the business, never short of work, thanks in part to my somewhat dodgy agent, who seemed to be able to get me all sorts of work at prices I’d have never asked for. Jim’s death was a terrible blow, for his young family in particular. They had to rebuild their lives. For me it put a lot of things into perspective, but when I made this drawing I was, at the time, blissfully unaware of the ups and downs that faces everyone, generally in unequal measure. I was one of the lucky ones.

I looked up Creative Handbook on Google. There was a set for sale, they later became two editions, as they were so successful and these came in a smart box. They were on eBay for about 30 quid. Coley Porter Bell still thrives but has moved offices from an attic overlooking Charing Cross road, and no longer need me there to make it look busy.

And do printers like the above still exist? Unlikely. I became a ‘Print Rep’ but tried not to be like a second hand car salesman. No brycreem, ( nothing left to put it on actually) No line in nudge nudge, but I always said ‘ We can print ( almost ) anything ‘ and then whispered quietly to myself…even banknotes.

You can get this 1990 edition on Ebay for a mere £32.99 it is classed these days as a rare book.