Sign up for a one-on-one mentoring session with Anthony Burrill

Later on today, we’re set to host our first online event of 2021 in partnership with the team at Wix Playground. Under the banner of Creative Revival, we’re going to be speaking to four leading artists and designers from across the globe – Anna Ginsburg, Lawrence Agyei, Shamma Buhazza and Anthony Burrill – about how the past 12 months have impacted their creativity and what they believe we can all learn from our experiences of the pandemic. If you still haven’t picked up your free ticket, you can do so here.

If for any reason you can’t make the event or if you simply want a chance to put your own questions to Anthony directly, well then, you’re in luck! Because today we’re also launching a “Meet the Mentor” opportunity with him. We’ve booked out an entire afternoon in Anthony’s calendar in a couple of weeks, and four lucky creatives – of any discipline or level of experience – will have the chance to grab some precious time with him on a one-on-one video call.

Use the link below to sign up for free and we’ll let you know as soon as possible if your application has been successful. The actual video calls themselves will then be taking place on Thursday 20 May. As for the applications, we’ll be closing the link below at midday BST Friday 14 May (that’s next week!), so please don’t hesitate to sign up.

Anthony has built a well-earned reputation as one of the kindest and most thoughtful practitioners in the design industry, always quick to pass on advice. Yet for him, it’s very much a case of returning the generosity he was shown. When he was at university in Leeds, writing a dissertation on the German artist Kurt Schwitters, an illustrator called Russell Mills came to the college to give a talk. “I absolutely idolised Russell, I thought he was amazing,” Anthony recalls. “He did record sleeves for some of my favourite bands, he worked with Brian Eno, did lots of book jackets. He was somebody I really admired.”

After the talk, the young Anthony spoke to Russell Mills about his dissertation and the illustrator invited him down to his studio in London. “We spent the afternoon looking at his work and his collection of books. It was just incredible,” he says. “For somebody like that to invest that much time in some student up in Leeds, it really blew me away and gave me a real boost of confidence. That’s what the industry should be like.”

Particularly since the onset of the pandemic, Anthony has been volunteering his time and speaking to a whole host of university students (from Coventry, Manchester and Nottingham Trent, to name just three), who have had an incredibly tough time since the start of 2020, handling everything from the closure of campuses to the cancellation of degree shows. “I can remember that, being at college and being quite anxious about what’s going to happen when you leave,” he says. “It feels like you’re jumping off a diving board into unknown waters. It’s quite scary, but exciting at the same time.”

Often he feels these conversations are really about just giving younger creatives a “nod of approval” to make sure they keep inspired and stay motivated. Because at the end of the day, he notes, “It’s all just people, isn’t it?” He encourages young designers to “just knock on people’s doors and make contact”, because “one of those people is going to be the person who introduces you to the next person. You just need to get the ball rolling.”

That’s exactly what this opportunity is all about. If your application is successful, you can use your allotted time with Anthony in any way you see fit. You might want to present a specific project you’ve been working on in order to invite some feedback, or you might want to fire a load of questions at him about how he built his career, or you might simply prefer to chat about life outside of work. It’s entirely up to you. So, click on the link below, throw your hat in the ring, and we hope to see you on a call in a couple of weeks’ time!