RIP Will Walton
Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with lots of clever arty types – Chris Beech, John Feeney, Karen Birch, Katie Ruby Miller – but the first creative who made a real impression on me was a guy called Will Walton.
He was irreverent, liked a drink, always late, well-read, witty, hardworking and super talented. He used to scribble bits of genius on scraps of paper and I soon had a wall full of WW originals including inky the iron, a monkey on a tractor and Jeff Beige.
We worked closely on a set of creatives for the Hendon Times – where we were working in 2001 – where his style elevated and amplified the message, winning several in-house industry awards.
When I started My Mustard in 2007 I knew I wanted a brand character and I poured through the old pictures and found Bit – a pig rabbit with no mouth but lots to say.
Will tidied him up and the rest is history…
Will once said “I used to work with June, she was cruel but fair. She knows that I am joking, she was just cruel” and that still makes me laugh.
I heard recently that Will isn’t with us anymore and I am sad that the talented eccentric bugger has gone too soon so I wanted to honour him with a Bit day of his own.