Max Scratchmann

Max Scratchmann was born in India to British parents. Brought "home" to Scotland as a small child he hated the cold climate and surgical grey light, and couldn't wait to get back to India again.

Max graduated with a degree in English Literature, and, after various jobs, became a full time freelance illustrator and writer in 1984. His book about life in the Scottish Islands, Chucking It All, was named one of the 10 best travel books of 2009 by Worldhum.

Max now lives and works in Edinburgh, a city said to be rivalled only by Venice for culture and architecture in the entirety of western Europe. He has written and illustrated for a plethora of magazines and newspapers since the late 1970s, ranging from The Guardian to Nostalgic Scotland and is the author of the following travel books:

Max is also a popular performance poet and can be seen at many poetry venues and slams in central Scotland. He is the author of two books of verse and several works of fiction and is the artistic director of the spoken word theatre company, Poetry Circus. His most popular graphic design title is Illustration 101 which is currently in its fifth edition.

His illustration client list includes The Guardian - The Wall Street Journal - The Korn Ferry Institute - Reed - IPC - Longman - Serino Coyne Advertising (New York) - Scottish Opera - Scynchrono Crossings (Tokyo) - Ms London - Girl About Town - Sugar - Catch - City Life - Midweek - Attitude - XL - Tigerprint - Marketing Week - Graphics International - Yes - Vox - New Moon - Desire - Village Voice - the Big Issue - Metropolitan - Football Management - Insider - Entrepreneur - Incognito - Naxos Audio Books - Revels Playtexts - Manchester University Press - Coliseum Theatre - Sunday Herald - Pearson Education - Trader - Moondance Media - British Airways - The Law Society and many more.