Let me try again,
Because I was getting "funky results", I took it apart and tested each row pin and each column pin one by one; not connected to the arduino and no test code (which is why I believe I posted this to the wrong place). The "fritzing abortion" I posted are the results of which LEDs light up when taking the row and column pins high and low respectively one by one, I believe the results show that the 8x8 matrix is faulty, but would like someone to confirm this.
Again, because it is not connected to the Arduino at all I don't think this is the right forum for this question. I also should have known to lable the post 8x8 matrix instead of display, apologies for the stupid mistake.