ANTHONY BURRILL: WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN, WHERE ARE YOU HEADING NOW?
When starting out as a new designer, Anthony Burrill was focused on different ways of promoting his work. He did this by “showcasing” it to clients and by printing his own works - it was originally “as means of self promotion.” Magazines, Illustrations, Advertising, Postcards and many more outcomes he would construct and then would send out to people in the hope of gaining some commissions. Burrill was - and still is very interested in all areas of graphic art and design and sought inspiration from movements such as Pop art and artists like Peter Blake. Influences also came from artists who used a lot of typography in their work like Ed Ruscha and Robert Indiana. He really enjoyed working with “letterforms, words and typefaces”. Especially when words are used in an art context they become “almost quite poetic.” He explains he likes how you can “collaging words together to make a piece of work.” Burrill has an appreciation for the fine art, experimental use of words, like for instance work by artists like Barbara Kruger. He was was drawn to words in “song lyrics” and the “weird texts.” Response to his work came quickly and he found that could be because when you work with type the “communication work more directly than maybe images, as soon as you put a single word down, everyone responds to it instantly.”
He then looked into forms, abstract shapes and typography. Whenever out of the studio he finds himself always surrounded by type and looking at it all the messages that we see on a daily basis, and all the information we can find. Specifically “things that have weathered over the years that have become quite textured.” This is evident in his work and when asked about this edge or trend within his process he then explains interestingly in his work how almost tries “to celebrate letterforms and words by trying to keep the design as simple as possible.” His work is very clear and precise but also colourful and intriguing. The words are the main focus and cause an instant reaction due to the boldness and beautifulness of it’s simplicity. “Everything is reduced to the minimum, it is focused on the message of the work as much as possible.” He does this with centred and clear text over a single coloured background and the outcome couldn’t be more exciting.
After the great successes he has had so far with his creative career, I had to ask the question: What he is planning on doing next? He explains that in the past 10 years or so the “graphic art scene has grown” and people are really interested in visual culture and it links into a lot of other things such as fashion, music. All these different things have always been interrelated. Personally he has always been interested more in “interiors for spaces”, and finds that “incorporating typography into spaces would be a really nice thing to do.” Everything evolves so quickly, the future is unclear until we get there. That is what is so exciting “because you are not sure what is going to happen next” it is an interesting prospect - “everyone influences everyone else” and you become more ambitious as your go with projects as well. Anthony Burrill will be hosting a workshop at the Graphic Design Festival Scotland 2017 in a couple of weeks from 20-26 October, as well the 2017 Northern Design Festival, ‘Material Matters’ , opening on 3 November with the Design NOW symposium featuring a stellar line-up of speakers including Anthony Burrill and Sarah Hyndman. He has just come back from hosting a Letterpress workshop at Something Good Design Festival Bristol.
