Jay Jay Burridge also known as Jay Burridge (born 12 January 1971) is a British artist and former

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

. He fronted the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

children's art programme ''

SMart ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingha ...

'' from 1994 until 2003, when he left and became a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

and

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

inventor. He was a close friend of colleague

Mark Speight Mark Warwick Fordham Speight (6 August 1965 – 7 April 2008) was an English television presenter and host of children's art programme ''SMart''. Speight was born in Seisdon, Staffordshire, and left school at 16 to become a cartoonist. He t ...

Career

TV presenter and early career

He graduated from

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...

with a degree in art, and in 1994 auditioned for the role as a presenter on the

children's art programme ''

''. At his interview he met

, and the two soon formed a strong friendship. Burridge and Speight were given the jobs of presenting ''

'' alongside

Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest paid BBC presenter after G ...

. Ball left, and was replaced by Josie d'Arby who was then replaced by

Kirsten O'Brien Kirsten Lindsey O'Brien (born 23 February 1972) is an English television, radio presenter and actress. She is best known for her work presenting for the BBC, including the popular CBBC art programme ''SMart'' from 1999 to 2009, the CBeebies pr ...

and Lizi Botham in 1999. Together with O'Brien and Botham they fronted the ''

'' 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 ''

'' at Burridge's West

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 ''

'' in 2003, feeling he had "outgrown isrole 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

and

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 Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

and

David LaChapelle David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963) is an American photographer, music video director, and film director. He is best known for his work in fashion and photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. His ...

. Burridge directed the music video for the song "Inspired By" by The Brightlights and was

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Hot Chip Hot Chip is an English synth-pop band formed in London in 2000. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard (musician), Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former memb ...

'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 Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced Injection moulding, injection-moulded plastic model, plastic scale model kits. In the UK, the name 'Airfix' has become practically synonymous with plastic models of this typ ...

model of

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...

McLaren MP4/6 The McLaren MP4/6 is a Formula One racing car designed by McLaren's Neil Oatley, Matthew Jeffreys, David North, David Neilson, Bob Bell and Mike Gascoyne; powered by the Honda RA121E V12 engine for use in the Formula One season, with the en ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

car, sold at auction for €187,000. The piece had been on show at the "Remembering Ayrton Senna" exhibition.

Supersaurs

In 2017, Bonnier Zaffre released The World of Supersaurs: Raptors of Paradise, the first of a major six-book series, written by Burridge. The book was accompanied by a free app that uses AR technology to bring the illustrations to life and also had a mini-game with 50 missions that are completed by exploring the pages. Burridge, who is dyslexic, wrote and designed the book experience to instigate children that struggle with reading to be excited about books and is a firm believer on the use of technology to support new readers.

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 Collins Natasha Louise Collins (7 September 1976 – 3 January 2008) was an English actress and model. Following a car crash that curtailed her career, she fatally overdosed on cocaine, which Mark Speight, her fiancé, was initially suspected of supply ...

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.

References

External links

*
Lucky Seven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burridge, Jay 1971 births Alumni of Central Saint Martins British graphic designers British television presenters Living people Television presenters with dyslexia British artists with disabilities