Michael Cooper stationery
“Bob Gill has suggested that the letterhead was designed in reaction to being cajoled into doing the job as a favour: ‘This is the greatest free job ever done by a designer. What does he want to say? I did this for nothing, that’s what.’ Meanwhile, Gill’s then wife Bobby had a somewhat different interpretation: ‘Michael Cooper was somebody who used to hang around, but he didn’t have any personality. Bj thought and thought of something to do for his letterhead, but the only thing this guy had done that was in any way interesting was to ask him to design it.’ The truth is probably somewhere between the two. The desire to wreak revenge on exploitative ‘friends’ will resonate with most graphic designers, but accounts of Cooper do hint at a paper-thin personality…” — Robert Brownjohn sex and typography: 1925–1970, Life and Work, Emily King and Eliza Brownjohn.
“Or maybe this was just a combative, but friendly rivalry among creatives? (You know, like between the Beatles and the Stones?) Despite the Bobby Gill’s harsh appraisal of Cooper’s ‘paper thin’ personality, his life and accomplishments actually match Brownjohn’s in number of surprising ways.” — Randy Ludacer
