He designed many exhibits for companies, such as Eastman Kodak, IBM, the Smithsonian, Mead Paper, Union Carbide, Herman Miller Furniture, and United States Information Agency.
Burtin's education was interrupted early during World War I when German armies took over his elementary school for cavalry barracks.
After graduation, Burtin studied graphic and industrial design at the Kölner Werkschulen (Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts) in 1926.
[3] In 1927, Burtin opened his own design studio in Cologne, in which he created booklets, posters, type books, exhibitions, displays, advertising, and movies for German, French, and other clients.
However, in 1937, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels made an official request for Burtin to become the Ministry's Director of Design.
Burtin's wife Hilde took advantage of this to write an urgent letter to her cousin, Max Munk, in Maryland.
Unfortunately for Burtin, Hitler replied that his wife was not an issue and his first assignment would be to create an exhibit foretelling the impacts of Nazi culture.
He was honoured, he replied, to be considered for this high-ranking post but he needed this vacation to be well rested prior to taking up his duties for the Nazi Party.
They were able to book passage on the Rotterdam and flee to New York City, leaving behind their personal belongings, taking only overnight bags to deceive border guards, and a sample sheet of the typeface Firmin Didot.
The FWA taught Burtin how to create these types of designs in order for him to properly have this concept depicted in the exhibit.
According to RIT's biography on Burtin, Will stated a gunman "was engaged in serious business in which his life might depend on the swift functioning of his knowledge and equipment".
[3] As World War II was ending, Burtin was recruited by the publisher of Fortune Magazine, straight from the Army.
Fortune did allow Burtin to do freelance work on the side which led to his partnership with the Upjohn Company and many others, such as Eastman Kodak, IBM, the Smithsonian, Mead Paper, Union Carbide, Herman Miller Furniture, and United States Information Agency.
[4] In 1950, Burtin also started working at the Parsons School of Design, leading AIGA to name him a director with in the Institute.
Kalamazoo was selected by USIA to represent everyday life in an average American city, to be displayed to Europe.
[3] These new techniques and designs brought considerable attention to Burtin's Eastman Kodak Pavilion at the 1964–1965 World's Fair.
According to The Will Burtin Papers, the pavilion included an "eighty foot high photo tower and moon deck".
[5] Union Carbide was developing uranium to make nuclear fuel; therefore the company launched a huge campaign surrounding this and requested Burtin to design "The Atom in Action".
[3] His exhibit was showcased at Union Carbide's headquarters in New York City and represented the physics of nuclear energy.
[3] These results led Burtin to suggest one of the most notable projects he would design for Upjohn, creating a model of a human cell.
Examples of Burtin's work include "The Cell", "The Genes in Action", and other processes or microstructures that required a unique understanding of both art and science.
Will kept this a secret until he passed and it wasn't until seeing a copy of her mother's death certificate did Carol realize her father's effort to shield the sad news from her.
[3] In January 1961, Burtin remarried the graphic designer Cipe Pineles, a long time family friend.
[3] After Burtin's death in 1972, The Cleveland Health Museum and Education Center took The Cell, Defense of Life, The Brain, and The Chromosome as permanent exhibits.