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ESPI on site: Anthony Burrill at TYPO London 2012
Anthony Burrill describes himself as a ‘persuasive, up-beat illustrator and designer’. Today at TYPO London, the softly spoken man took us on a fantastic journey through his eclectic career to date; regaling stories of letter-pressing in the “ancient” town of Rye, printing a poster using the crude oil from the disastrous BP spill of 2006 BP and why we should “Work Hard and Be Nice to People”.
In fact, it is easy to believe that Burrill himself lives by this very motto. On stage, Burrill’s softly spoken personality embodies the sentiment of possibly his best-known work (the “Work Hard and Be Nice To People” poster). Drawn from an old saying Burrill heard, the poster went on to be a huge viral hit across the globe. Freely admitting to often ‘Googling himself’ (after all, who doesn’t?), Burrill showed us a glimpse of the global reach of the poster – “from Mums to fashion bloggers” - with one individual even getting a tattoo of the design of their thigh.
It is impossible not to like Burrill when he speaks. His passion for his work is tangible, as is his love for all things analogue – something deliciously refreshing in our modern digital age. Throughout his talk at TYPO today, one constant thread was his love for making things by hand. Letterpress is a passion that has taken him across the globe to the bright lights of Los Angeles and Rio, Brazil, and by stark contrast, to the most unlikely place in his local village of Rye in Kent. After seeing a letter-pressed poster for a local florist in a shop window near his home in Rye, Burrill discovered a local printer creating these posters with a exquisite set of letterpress. Ten years later, Burrill and the printer are still working together.
As his talk drew to a conclusion, Burrill spoke about the background of one of his most popular works, the ‘Oil and Water Do Not Mix’ poster. Commissioned by advertising agency ‘Happiness Brussels’, the crude oil and sand was collected from the sealed-off beach in Lousiana (while the security were on lunch break), and then used to create the ink for the screened printed posters. With all the benefits of the posters going to Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, I get the definite feeling the Burill is definitely Working Hard and Being Nice to People.