Marian Bantjes is a designer, artist and writer working internationally from her base on a small island off the west coast of Canada, near Vancouver. She was trained as a book typesetter (1984–1994) and was a straight-up graphic designer from 1994–2003. But it is since 2004 that her highly personal, obsessive and sometimes strange graphic work has brought her international recognition. Marian is known for her custom typography, detailed and lovingly precise vector art, her obsessive hand work, her patterning and ornament. Often hired to create custom art for magazines, advertising and special projects, Marian’s work has an underlying structure and formality that frames its organic, fluid nature.
Her clients include Pentagram (Michael Bierut), Stefan Sagmeister, Saks Fifth Avenue, Maharam, Ogilvy & Mather Chicago, Young & Rubicam Chicago, Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Wallpaper*, WIRED, The Guardian (UK), The New York Times, among many others. She has also designed materials for the AIGA, TypeCon 2007, and the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC).
Her work has been featured in design magazines around the world, including IDEA (Japan), Eye (UK), Communication Arts (USA), STEP (USA), Varoom (UK), Grafik (UK), DPI (Taiwan), Concept (Indonesia), Form (Germany), D2B (Brazil), Design Indaba (South Africa) and étapes (Paris); appears in numerous design compendiums, and has been published in a 120-page book by Pyramyd (France), as part of their design&designer series. In 2007, five pieces were accepted into the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (Smithsonian) in New York. In 2008, she was accepted as a member of the prestigious international design organization, Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). In 2010, she spoke at the reknowned TED Conference in Long Beach, California. Her book, "I Wonder" is due out in the fall of 2010, published by Thames & Hudson.
Photo courtesy of the artist
Marian's contribution to Typing In Public:
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