Anthony Burrill © G. Kassner
Growing up, it was the photocopier around the corner from his house that served as the tool in which he could play and spend most of his time. He would assemble found things and words and make little photocopy books with striking, simple and bold type – an aesthetic he still carries in his work even to this day.
An early collaboration with KesselsKramer on the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel project (and apparently one of the worst hotels in the world) is a fine example of his clever wordplay, wicked humour and the beauty and simplicity of typography at its best.
“work hard and be nice to people”
Combining found images with text were his thing but there was a point in which words became far more important and he began to arrange and print phrases he liked and/or overheard. One of these phrases being “work hard and be nice to people”, spoken by an elderly lady at his local supermarket,
struck him as something very profound in simplicity and truth. From there, the words just flowed. “Clear your head”, “think of your own ideas”, “ask more questions” and “say nothing” are a few from his collections.
Although there is a distinctive style in his work, the diversity in the mediums and ways in which he has applied his style is impressive and exceptional.
Anthony Burrill has gained a following in the design world for his innovative collaborations with friends and fellow artists, designers, print-makers and film-makers. Burrill works across a range of media, including posters, moving image and three-dimensional work. His persuasive, up-beat illustration and design has been commissioned by cultural, social and commercial clients around the world from New York, to London to Tokyo.
He combines an instinctive handling of colour and composition with a witty approach to words. He has worked on advertising campaigns and posters for clients such as The Economist, the British Library and London Underground. He regularly collaborates with musicians and animators to make films, music promos and animations, using his distinctive visual vocabulary and passion for fusing sound and image. His installations and 3-D work have been commissioned by Colette in Paris and The Design Museum in London among others. Printmaking is an important part of Burrill’s practice and he creates limited edition prints with slogans including “Work Hard and Be Nice to People” that have become mantras for the design community and beyond.
Not to mention the amazing collaborations he has formed with fellow creatives, printers and craftsmen. Ink and press, form and space, music and workshops, fashion and motion, and news television, he has been there.
Honest, optimistic and super inspiring. I think it would be more than fair to describe Anthony Burrill as a designer’s designer and a graphic wordsmith.
Maggie Tang
