Be A Design Cast 43 : Marian Bantjes
Holy crap. Marian Bantjes (Bant-geez) is freaking talented. Chances are that if you listen to our show you are a savvy enough designer to know this. You may not know that a few short years ago she was burnt out and living in Canada (she still does that), and was considering leaving design behind her completely. It was a t-shirt contest on SpeakUp, a site to which she contributes as a writer, that brought her back into the fold. Picture this: you enter a design contest, actually win, and are actually discovered by the design gods and made into a superstar. That’s right folks, Marian is the only designer on the planet to have ever had any good come of spec work. Or at least that’s the way Donovan and I see it. This show was recorded very early in the morning following what I would call an “adventurous” night out with the other speakers at Think Thank, the AIGA Nashville Board, and a bevy of people who attended the conference, so if it takes us a few minutes to get rolling, that is why. We discuss much of Marian’s views on typography, design, her early work as a typesetter, and the most devious weapon in Donovan Beery’s arsenal: The Open Question.
ps: Marian, dictionary.com lists cavorting as “To have lively or boisterous fun; romp.” So, yeah, that was totally what you were doing.
–nv–
podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com
Right click to download Be A Design Cast 43 to your computer (13mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:30 am
Yeah. God knows how many times we’ve done spec work only to get nowhere. To build a career from a spec is pretty good going. And yes – she is a talented designer.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:48 am
JUST to be perfectly clear: The Spec Work line was a GAG. It was a t-shirt contest. Sponsored by Speak Up, and wasn’t really what we would consider to be spec work at all. Marian’s built her career off of being phenomenally talented.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Nate, what’s the deal with the unofficial Denver meet-up? Contact info is on my site. Get at me.
October 10th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Justin, I sent an email to you with where you can meet or call us Friday. Anyone else who wants to see Nate or I while we are in Denver, send us an email at podcast [@] beadesigngroup [.] com by end of day Thursday.
October 10th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Listened to the podcast on my way in to work. I’ve never heard you guys so run down. Somebody get these men some Game Fuel, STAT!
That sustainability piece is amazing. I think my favorite piece of Marian’s work is still the heart done in red & blue ink.
If Marian is reading, how do I get on your Halloween card list?
October 21st, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Run down or not this was a really nice interview. Great job guys. Marian Bantjes IS incredibly talented and it was really interesting to hear her point of view on typography as we designers handle it today.
Thanks for the quality podcast!
October 21st, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Run down or not this was a really nice interview. Great job guys. Marian Bantjes IS incredibly talented and it was really interesting to hear her point of view on typography as we designers handle it today.
Thanks for the quality podcast!