Published by The Bill Scott Estate to accompany a major retrospective of Scott’s work at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 2021
Edited by Jeanie Scott
Main photography by John McKenzie
Designed by James Brook
ISBN 978 1 5272 9649 7
Soft cover | 245 x 210 mm | 96 pages | Printed by Gomer, Wales on 170gsm Arctic Volume White with a laminated cover printed on 350gsm Galerie Art Matt
I am delighted to have designed this book about the work of the Scottish sculptor and past President of the Royal Scottish Academy, Bill Scott (1935-2012). Scott was a prominent and much respected Scottish sculptor who established and developed his practice in Edinburgh, whilst creating work for public spaces and exhibiting nationally and internationally. The book accompanied a major retrospective of Scott’s work at the Royal Scottish Academy, 1 August to 5 September 2021, that re-presented Scott’s work for contemporary audiences and explored its key themes and influences. Importantly, the exhibition was also an opportunity to fully explore Scott’s role as an educator, mentor and influence on the many artists he taught and supported.
The cover image is a detail of Exploration / Mapping, 2010 and the title text is Scott’s own lettering, drawn and modelled by the artist for his 1986 memorial to the football player and manager, Jock Stein, commissioned by Dunfermline Athletic Football Club. Bill’s family were very keen to have this hand-drawn text on the cover as it carries much of the warmth and character of this much-loved Scottish artist. The inside cover is a detail from an untitled collage from 1999, a nice contrast to the weightiness of the bronze sculpture on the outside.
The book is typeset in a mixture of Minion Pro for most of the body text; different weights of Scala Sans Pro for the captions, page numbers and other information; and for the titles, different weights of Hypatia Sans, chosen because of the typeface’s closeness to the artist’s own lettering on the cover of the book. The layout makes use of white space that gives the images space to breathe – I worked closely with the artist’s daughter, Jeanie Scott, on the placement of the images, paying particular attention to how the images an works related to each other both in terms of scale and subject.
Jeanie Scott, The Bill Scott Estate: It was a real pleasure to work with James on a monograph on the work of the late sculptor Bill Scott. James was engaged and enthusiastic from the start, he responded to the brief with great care and sensitivity and offered just the right amount of guidance and support in terms of the book’s design, feel and production.
Creating a publication during lockdown brought all sorts of challenges – James’ patience, experience and skill meant we were able to negotiate all sorts of hurdles together to deliver, on time, a book that beautifully presents the artist’s work, allowing it to breathe on the page and speak for itself. Above all James is a generous collaborator – he is genuinely interested in working with you to achieve the best design outcome. I can’t recommend him highly enough.