Shrigley finds humour in flat depictions of the inconsequential, the unavailing and the bizarre – although he is far fonder of violent or otherwise disquieting subject matter. Shrigley’s work has two of the characteristics often encountered in outside art – an odd viewpoint, and (in some of his work) a deliberately limited technique.

His freehand line is often weak, which jars with his frequent use of a ruler; his forms are often very crude; and annotations in his drawings are poorly executed and frequently contain crossings-out (In authentic outsider art, the artist has no choice but to produce work in his or her own way, even if that work is unconventional in content and inept in execution. In contrast, it is likely that Shrigley has chosen his style and range of subject matter for comic effect).

David Shrigley co-directed an animate!-commissioned film with award-winning director Chris Shepherd called ‘Who I Am And What I Want’, based on Shrigley’s book of the same title. Kevin Eldon voiced its main character, Pete. He also produced a series of drawings and t-shirt designs for the 2006 Triptych festival, a Scottish music festival lasting for three to four days in three cities. He has also designed twelve different covers for Deerhoof’s 2007 record, Friend Opportunity.

In October 2007, Tomlab released Worried Noodles, a double-CD of artists including Liars, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Franz Ferdinand and Final Fantasy putting Shrigley’s 2005 book of the same name to music.