Marian Bantjes

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. Her highly personal, obsessive and sometimes strange graphic work has brought her international recognition. Her work has been featured in design magazines around the world and appears in numerous design compendiums.

'Pretty Pictures' is the only book of the complete works of Marian Bantjes from 2003–2013. At 26cm x 35cm and 272 full-colour pages, this compendium is packed with sketches, development and finished work, all with descriptions, anecdotes and amusing or ascerbic asides. The presentation is chronological and the construction is dynamic. Each spread has been carefully designed by Bantjes, not within a grid but mindful of structure and balance. Is the book mind-bogglingly too much? Yes, but that is, after all, the point. It allows many days – perhaps months – of perusal and ongoing surprise. A year in the making, it was published in September 2013 by Thames & Hudson / Metropolis Books.

'I Wonder' is an eclectic circus of original writing and ornamented illustration, conceived, authored, and designed by Bantjes over a period of 15 months, resulting in her best and most interesting work to date. It was published in October 2010 by Thames & Hudson / Monacelli.

Images of her work was published in a small 120-page book by Pyramyd (France), as part of their design&designer series.