Bantjes

I'm nearing the end of month two for my "Read all the stuff on your bookshelf before buying more books or getting a library card and borrowing copious amounts" project. It is going fairly well but my newfound love of riding my bike or running to work is cutting into my reading time. I recently moved on to the design section of my shelf and my enthusiasm for graphic design went wild once again. I forgot how much I loved reading design magazines, the articles make me feel like I am part of the club and get me thinking about new possibilities. Regardless I bring this up because I came across another great article.

Marian Bantjes is a "lapsed graphic designer" (Applied Arts Magazine, March 2010) who produces beautiful custom typographic solutions. After seeing a few of her pieces it is easy to identify her work, not because it is all the same, but because of the intricate details in her work. After dropping out of Emily Carr, in Vancouver, Bantjes spent ten years typesetting, designing books and doing production at Hartley & Marks/Typeworks. In 1994 she co-founded Digitpolis Media and taught herself corporate design as projects came up. Bantjes eventually tired of the strategic side of things and took a break to work on her personal style. It may be referred to as a break, but the work she produced and contributed for free to various magazines ended up landing her a job at Details. Things moved quickly from there and Bantjes is now contacted directly by art directors and designers, allowing her to stay fully immersed in her creative work.

My favourite part, aside from the images of her work, is that Bantjes is Canadian. There are many well known and talented designers from around the world, but it is great to have such talent coming from Canada.

Below are some of my favourites. (People who know me from childhood may understand my particular interest in the intricacies of her work, remember my graph paper drawings?)