Losing a Dance Partner

RIP Graeme James, Cover Designer for The Economist

I was saddened to learn that a long time colleague and chum from The Economist had recently passed away.

For much of 30 years, Graeme James was the brilliant cover designer for The Economist. According to this lovely obituary of him in The Economist, Graeme had designed over 2500 covers for the publication.

I had the honor of working alongside Graeme for more than 100 of those covers.

Over the decades, when I got the call on a Monday morning from Graeme, I knew I was in for an exciting few days. A cover was in the works.

Over the next few hours, Graeme and I would partake in a trans-Atlantic creative brainstorming session. We would swap pencil sketches via fax and email, trying to refine the cover image.

These sessions with Graeme were fun and informative as he had a masterful understanding of the strengths and subtleties of his craft.

Listening to him, I learned a great deal about the power of the simple image. I was inspired by his perseverance and dogged pursuit of excellence while simultaneously battling tight deadlines.

12 Years ago I penned this essay on creation of a cartoon cover for The Economist. In it I describe The creation of The Economist’s weekly cover is an amazing dance.

RIP Graeme James...one of my favorite dance partners.