Jon Burgerman talks about his doodle dolly mixture

I talk to the talented UK illustrator Jon Burgerman about urban vinyl and character design to discover more about this exciting industry.

Do you think Urban Vinyl will ever be accepted in the art world as sculpture?

It probably wont ever be accepted directly, but if you stick an urban vinyl on a plinth in a gallery and I’m sure it’ll be viewed differently. It all revolves around the context in which it’s displayed and what the artist is trying to say about the work. Mass produced products have been seen as art before so there is no reason why vinyls can’t be accepted in that realm some day soon too. A blanket acceptance will never happen, nor should it, that would be like saying all paintings are art because they use paint.

How do you think it differs from normal toy manufacturing?

I don’t really think it differs that much from normal manufacturing, I would imagine the process is almost identical. The differentiating factor would be the design process. The Urban Vinyl scene relies on the name of the person / studio designing the piece, there is a degree of auteurism to it.

Who do you aim your characters at?

They are not aimed at anyone in particular, in most cases if they are aimed at anyone that person would be me. I make work to please myself primarily.

If I am not happy with a piece of my work then even if others like it I will probably still change it until I am comfortable with it. I hope people do like my characters though, if they do then they probably share the same sense of humour as myself.

What or who inspires you?

Art in the modern world!

Name your favorite urban vinyl character?

There are too many to mention to pick out just one, it would be unfair on all the rest!

What other 3D designers do you admire?

Again, I am fans of quite a lot of people. Particularly I like a lot of the Flying Cat artists, there is a real wealth of talent working with Flying Cat at the moment (present company excluded of course!).

How would you describe your artwork to someone who has never seen it?

Strange, blending, overlapping characters and shapes. A doodle dolly mixture.

What countries have you found your work to be the most successful?

I get a lot of nice comments from all over the world which is very flattering. I suppose a lot of people who like my work are based in Europe and America, though I am getting more and more feedback from people in the east; Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, which is great.

How do you think designer toys will evolve?

Hopefully there will be less generic shaped toys and more individual characters and ideas.

Check out Jon Burgerman and danish artist Sune Ehlers colourful book full of crazy characters beautifully packaged in a box along with cool stickers.

For more information and other Jon Burgerman goodies
www.jonburgerman.com
www.myspace.com/jonburgerman

Tweet