Marian Bantjes
Of all the typographers from the list I’ve listened to on Typeradio.org, there were three that stood out from the others. Marian Bantjes was one of them.
A little bit of background:
Marian Bantjes was born in 1963 and is a Canadian designer, artist, illustrator, typographer and writer. She attended Arts school from one year but dropped out after she felt she was being too ‘guided’ and wanted to do her own thing. She started working in the field of visual communication in 1983 and worked for 10 years as a book typesetter which was her introduction to typography. From 1993 to 2002 she owned and ran a graphic design firm with a friend. Since 2003 she has crossed the boundaries between design, illustration and typography; she left all of that behind to begin an experiment in following love instead of money, by doing work that was highly personal, obsessive and sometimes just plain weird. At the same time she began writing for the design weblog “Speak Up”, and her cheeky but thoughtful articles soon gained her recognition in the blogosphere. Through this two-pronged approach, Marian caught the attention of designers and Art Directors across North America.
Marian’s art and design crosses boundaries of time, style and technology. She is known for her detailed and lovingly precise vector art, her obsessive hand work, her patterning and ornament. Often hired to create custom type for magazines, advertising and special projects, Marian’s work has an underlying structure and formality that frames its organic, fluid nature.
Stefan Sagmeister calls Bantjes “one of the most innovative typographers working today,”
I found myself agreeing with a lot of what Marian Bantjes had to say when it came to routines, work structure and other general points. I listened with interest and enjoyed her descriptive answers she gave in the interview. She had a great attitude towards life and the design world. She is someone that would never try to make her work fit in with the commercial world, she prefers to work with people that like her work, and are willing to let her take control and direct the outcome of experimenting. She finds that this is a better way to work, because it’s the only way she can really enjoy what she does. Her best experience and success so far would be her book, ‘I wonder’.
Marian spent 15 months writing her book, I Wonder, printed in 5 colours throughout (mostly CMYK + Gold) on a coated stock.
“I Wonder is not a monograph but, in Bantjes’ words, ‘a book of ideas’, a generous collection of essays lovingly typeset, illustrated, laid out and produced in a manner that resists a quick glance, a skim read or any easy generalisation or summary. This is ‘slow print’, in which Bantjes’ mind-bogglingly detailed type and lettering forces the reader to spend time with this elaborate yet welcoming book. […] I Wonder is undeniably obsessively stylish but its contents are by turn informed, witty and, in the case of the chapters about ‘Memory’, movingly personal.”
— John Walters, “Slow Print”
“I Wonder rises above the usual design book in the way Bantjes marries her text — a deeply considered set of essays on topics such as Wonder, Ornament, Honor, the Alphabet — with the shapes and patterns her imagination enters to reveal layers of meaning. Again, those of us familiar with her art will not be surprised at how she uses everyday elements to capture profound thoughts. In Bantjes’ world, there is really no boundary between text and ornament, message and medium, everyday and profound. What I found most rewarding about I Wonder, though, is that instead of merely impressing or (worse) intimidating, the book is a testament to the artist/author’s belief in the ultimate democracy of the act of creation.”
—Tom Biederbeck, Felt and Wire
