Jay Burridge
Encyclopedia
Jay Jay Burridge also known as Jay Burridge (born 12 January 1971) is an artist and former television presenter. He fronted the BBC
children's art programme SMart
from 1994 until 2003, when he left and became a graphic designer
and snowboard
inventor. He was a close friend of colleague Mark Speight
.
with a degree in art, and in 1994 auditioned for the role as a presenter on the BBC
children's art programme SMart
. At his interview he met Mark Speight
, and the two soon formed a strong friendship. Burridge and Speight were given the jobs of presenting SMart alongside Zoë Ball
. Ball left, and was replaced by Josie D'Arby
who was then replaced by Kirsten O'Brien
in 1999. Together with O'Brien they fronted the SMart spin-off shows SMart on the Road and SMarteenies
, as well as appearing at many other art-related events.
Together, Burridge and Speight created all of the art projects for each episode of SMart at Burridge's West London
art studio. He noted: "We would bounce ideas and jokes off each other all day until we had developed an almost telepathically linked knowledge of what made each other laugh."
Burridge left SMart in 2003, feeling he had "outgrown [his] role as a children's TV presenter," and wanted to move "out of the limelight". He worked as a commercial artist before becoming a producer for a TV company, as well as working as a graphic designer
and snowboard
inventor. He is the founder of the design company Laughing Boy and Lucky Seven, a hat company which specialises in crested baseball caps emblazoned with the logos of fictional companies from TV shows and films. The caps have been worn by people including Madonna
and David LaChapelle
.
Burridge directed the music video for the song "Inspired By" by The Brightlights
and was art director
on Hot Chip
's "Boy from School
" video, for which he won a Cads Music Vision Award. He also designed several large denim butterflies, which went on display on the streets of London, as part of an advertising campaign for Levi Strauss & Co.
's "Live Unbuttoned" 501 jeans. When Superstars Ruled the World, an exhibition by Burridge about dinosaurs, opened in 2010 at the Lazarides Gallery in Beverly Hills. In 2011, Burridge's piece, a full-sized unassembled airfix
model of Ayrton Senna
's McLaren MP4/6
Formula One
car, sold at auction for €187,000. The piece had been on show at the "Remembering Ayrton Senna" exhibition.
in January 2008, Burridge met up with him on several occasions and "tried to get him to see that the worst was over", although he realised that Speight "might not be able to keep going". Burridge spoke to Speight on 7 April 2008 and arranged to meet up with him later in the day. Speight, however, disappeared and committed suicide later that day. Burridge had helped police try to locate Speight, and was informed of his death on 13 April. He attended Speight's funeral on 28 April.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
children's art programme SMart
SMart
SMart was a British CBBC television programme based on the subject of art, which began in 1994. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London, previously it had been recorded in Studio A at BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham. The format is similar to the Tony Hart programmes Take Hart...
from 1994 until 2003, when he left and became a graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
and snowboard
Snowboard
Snowboards are boards, usually with a width the length of one's foot, with the ability to glide on snow. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user...
inventor. He was a close friend of colleague Mark Speight
Mark Speight
Mark Warwick Fordham Speight was an English television presenter, best known as the host of children's art programme SMart. Speight grew up in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, and left school at 16 to become a cartoonist...
.
Career
He graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and DesignCentral Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...
with a degree in art, and in 1994 auditioned for the role as a presenter on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
children's art programme SMart
SMart
SMart was a British CBBC television programme based on the subject of art, which began in 1994. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London, previously it had been recorded in Studio A at BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham. The format is similar to the Tony Hart programmes Take Hart...
. At his interview he met Mark Speight
Mark Speight
Mark Warwick Fordham Speight was an English television presenter, best known as the host of children's art programme SMart. Speight grew up in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, and left school at 16 to become a cartoonist...
, and the two soon formed a strong friendship. Burridge and Speight were given the jobs of presenting SMart alongside Zoë Ball
Zoë Ball
Zoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
. Ball left, and was replaced by Josie D'Arby
Josie D'Arby
Josie d'Arby is a Welsh actress and television presenter from Newport, Wales.-Biography:d'Arby went to Lliswerry High School in her younger years then went on to attend the Anna Scher Theatre School, and later the London School of Journalism.d'Arby began a presenting career while still a student...
who was then replaced by Kirsten O'Brien
Kirsten O'Brien
Kirsten O'Brien is an English television presenter and stand-up comic.She is known for presenting SMart, and presented Smile and Totally Doctor Who alongside Barney Harwood on CBBC....
in 1999. Together with O'Brien they fronted the SMart spin-off shows SMart on the Road and SMarteenies
SMarteenies
SMarteenies was a spin-off of the children's art programme SMart designed for pre-school viewers. It was shown on the CBeebies channel daily until its suspension in January 2008, following the death of presenter Mark Speight's fiancée Natasha Collins, and his subsequent suicide.The programme...
, as well as appearing at many other art-related events.
Together, Burridge and Speight created all of the art projects for each episode of SMart at Burridge's West London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
art studio. He noted: "We would bounce ideas and jokes off each other all day until we had developed an almost telepathically linked knowledge of what made each other laugh."
Burridge left SMart in 2003, feeling he had "outgrown [his] role as a children's TV presenter," and wanted to move "out of the limelight". He worked as a commercial artist before becoming a producer for a TV company, as well as working as a graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
and snowboard
Snowboard
Snowboards are boards, usually with a width the length of one's foot, with the ability to glide on snow. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user...
inventor. He is the founder of the design company Laughing Boy and Lucky Seven, a hat company which specialises in crested baseball caps emblazoned with the logos of fictional companies from TV shows and films. The caps have been worn by people including Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
and David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...
.
Burridge directed the music video for the song "Inspired By" by The Brightlights
The Brightlights
The Brightlights are a four-piece British indie rock band from Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire. They released their debut single, "Inspired By", on 5 November 2007...
and was art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
on Hot Chip
Hot Chip
Hot Chip are an English electronic indie band. They have released four studio albums—Coming on Strong, The Warning, Made in the Dark and One Life Stand.-Formation:...
's "Boy from School
Boy From School
"Boy from School" is a single by Hot Chip, released on 27 June 2006, from Hot Chip's second album, The Warning. The original title of the song was "And I Was a Boy from School", however, this was shortened on the request of EMI...
" video, for which he won a Cads Music Vision Award. He also designed several large denim butterflies, which went on display on the streets of London, as part of an advertising campaign for Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
's "Live Unbuttoned" 501 jeans. When Superstars Ruled the World, an exhibition by Burridge about dinosaurs, opened in 2010 at the Lazarides Gallery in Beverly Hills. In 2011, Burridge's piece, a full-sized unassembled airfix
Airfix
Airfix is a UK manufacturer of plastic scale model kits of aircraft and other subjects. In Britain, the name Airfix is synonymous with the hobby, a plastic model of this type is often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer....
model of Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
's McLaren MP4/6
McLaren MP4/6
The McLaren MP4/6 is a Formula One racecar that was designed by Neil Oatley for the F1 season. It was the first McLaren to be powered by a Honda V12 engine. The car was tested by Gerhard Berger in the off-season, but he was unimpressed with the new engine, feeling it was underpowered for what it...
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
car, sold at auction for €187,000. The piece had been on show at the "Remembering Ayrton Senna" exhibition.
Personal life
Burridge is married. He was close friends with Speight and the two formed an "on- and off-screen double act" and regularly attended the Regency Rooms comedy nights together. Following the death of Speight's fiancée Natasha CollinsNatasha Collins
Natasha Louise Collins was an English actress and model.-Career:Educated at St. Michael's Catholic Grammar School in Finchley, north London, she initially worked as a model, and was still represented by Ugly Rage Models at the time of her death...
in January 2008, Burridge met up with him on several occasions and "tried to get him to see that the worst was over", although he realised that Speight "might not be able to keep going". Burridge spoke to Speight on 7 April 2008 and arranged to meet up with him later in the day. Speight, however, disappeared and committed suicide later that day. Burridge had helped police try to locate Speight, and was informed of his death on 13 April. He attended Speight's funeral on 28 April.
External links
- Jay Burridge at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Lucky Seven