Penguin creates scholarship at The Glasgow School of Art in honour of longtime Art Director, John Hamilton

Penguin has created a new scholarship at The Glasgow School of Art, named in honour of Art Director John Hamilton, who died earlier this year.

Launching for the academic year 2019-2020, the John Hamilton Scholarship will offer £3,000 to one student per year, to support them for one year of study, as well as a paid internship in the art department at Penguin Random House UK. It is open to all Scottish postgraduate students studying for a Master of Design in Graphics/Illustration/ Photography or a Master of Design in Communication Design at The Glasgow School of Art.

Born in Glasgow, John Hamilton studied illustration at The Glasgow School of Art between 1982 and 1986, and his degree show consisted of a series of covers for imaginary books. After joining publisher William Heinemann shortly after graduating, he moved to Penguin in 1997 as Art Director for Penguin General Adult Publishing – later also becoming the Art Director for another of the Penguin publishing houses, Michael Joseph. During his twenty-two years with the company, he worked with many of Penguin’s bestselling authors, including Jamie Oliver, Zadie Smith, Nick Hornby and William Boyd.

Announcing the scholarship Tom Weldon, CEO of Penguin Random House UK, said:

“We are so proud to be partnering with The Glasgow School of Art to launch the John Hamilton Scholarship. We met thirty years ago when he had just started his first job as a book jacket designer, having recently graduated from the school.”

“John was immensely talented and hugely admired within the design and publishing communities, and beyond. He was passionate about encouraging new talent and he was also proudly Scottish so it feels absolutely right that this scholarship should support new Scottish design talent.”

For more information contact the Glasgow School of Art or visit the scholarships page on The Glasgow School of Art’s website.