This isn’t an important book. It isn’t a book of references and certainly not a work of scholarship. But more a wad of personal recollections. In some respects a valedictory dispatch as an art student, advertising art junior, art director, creative director, designer, ad agency proprietor, illustrator and painter.
This wad, this pad simply revisits a working life that in my case is, after art school, about the arty side of the advertising profession, design, graphic design, illustration and as a painter.
Winner of Best British Book Award, 2017
TITLE: David Holmes' Book – A Brush with The Music of Time
AUTHOR: David Holmes
YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2016
BOOK SIZE:215 x 255 mm
PAGES: 360
PRICE: £100
Plus £10 postage in the UK
This is an extraordinary document of one man's working life from the first ad he ever produced to the last campaign. Nothing quite like it has ever appeared in print, as far as I know. But there is more.
This is not the work of an obscure practitioner but of a man of huge talent both as an art director and as an artist and illustrator. It is a must for anyone wishing to know about, and learn about, advertising and its development over the last fifty year and more. It is a document about the eye, the brush, the nib and the art of being noticed.
FNP Salaman
This is an exuberant visual smorgasbord of a book documenting the 50 year career span of a truly creative and copious talent.
As an advertising creative director, illustrator, designer and artist, David Cecil Holmes Esquire has produced a highly distinguished and respected body of work which he has brought together and recorded in this beautifully produced and stylish volume.
This book is a book to dip into, a book that will engage and amuse you. It includes anecdotes and stories centred on a highly talented, creative and flamboyant band of individuals, in the form of account directors, art directors, creative directors, copy writers, illustrators, writers, artists, designers and makers that Holmes at one point or other has engaged with.
His career spans what was arguably one of the most exciting and creative periods in the visual arts, from the fifties and the ensuing three decades. A period during which boundaries were demolished and the creative cross pollination of ideas and disciplines was key.
It is a handsome book and will grace any coffee table; in no way is it a me too book; it is unique, one of a kind, as is its author.
Mel de Lasti
A beautiful journey through a magical art gallery.
Visual treats on every page. This is advertising art as it should be — building the brand, captivating our senses, charming us into buying whatever product David turned his hand to. It is the treasure trove of an era that (sadly) will never come again...unless, of course, our young artistic maestros spend some time at the feet of this master.
James Aitchison
