18th April 2019

Anthony Burrill brings us joy

- written by Laura Snoad

“I’ve always seen my work as an antidote to miserablism,” says designer and printmaker Anthony Burrill. We caught up with Burrill to chat about the new print he’s made with letterpress legend Alan Kitching and their exhibition at De Beauvoir Block. An explosion of colour and radiating positive vibes, the new print spells the words ‘More Joy’ in wooden block type. It’s an enthusiastic ode to a collaboration and friendship between two dons of the letterpress world.

Both Alan and Anthony are best known for using words in highly graphic ways, inspiring positivity and reflection. You’ll no doubt know Anthony’s trademark prints calling for people to ‘Work hard & be nice to people’ in chunky black type, while Alan’s style centres around overlapping colourful letters, loved by clients like Royal Mail, Crossrail and The Guardian. “There are similarities in our work,” Anthony tells us. “Alan uses a lot of poetry in his work and some of my pieces border on something like poetry.”

The project took about a year to come together from the first conversation to signing the edition, but a collaboration had been on Anthony’s mind for substantially longer. The pair first met at the Royal College of Art, where Alan was a tutor and Anthony a keen printmaking student. Anthony says, “I used to spend a lot of time in the workshop hiding from other tutors. There was something really special about Alan’s work, there was definitely something in wanting to be a little bit like him when I grew up.” Over the years the pair stayed in touch and became close friends, and when Anthony spotted some vintage wood type in Alan’s cornucopia of a studio that he was desperate to test out, he suggested that they collaborate.

Alan Kitching and Anthony Burrill in Kitching's studio, photography by Dunja Opalko

After selecting the word ‘Joy’ and deciding upon the composition, the pair applied the ink layer by layer with a roller, meaning that each print is unique. “There was something in wanting to set this very poetic, delicate idea in a chunky typeface. It’s quite different to my work which is about setting the type and then repeatedly printing, there was something very painterly about this process,” says Anthony.

The print is now available to buy and can be seen as part of an exhibition of work by the pair at De Beauvoir Block, called YOU & ME “In a way I wanted to complete the circle, to collaborate with someone that had had such an influence on my early work,” says Anthony. “A lot of my work is about positive messages. When we’re living in such serious times it’s important to have hope.”

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More Joy, by Alank Kitching and Anthony Burrill, photography by Dunja Opalko

Anthony Burrill's YOU & ME exhibition at De Beauvoir Block

Alan Kitching and Anthony Burrill in Kitching's studio, photography by Dunja Opalko

Anthony Burrill's YOU & ME exhibition at De Beauvoir Block