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I Wonder
From typographic illustrator Marian Bantjes, I Wonder will make you think in new ways about art, design, beauty, and popular culture. This unique presentation features the elaborately crafted word pictures of Marian Bantjes, the most inventive and creative typographic illustrator of our time. Whether intricately hand-drawn or using computer illustration software, Bantjes's work crosses the boundaries of time, style, and technology. There is, however, another side to Bantjes's visual her thoughtful treatises on art, design, beauty, and popular culture that add a deeper dimension to the decorative nature of her best-known work. These reflections cover the cult of Santa, road-side advertising, photography and memory, the alphabet's letterforms, heraldry, and stars. Bantjes's writing style ranges from the playful to the confrontational, but it is always imbued with perspicacity, insight, and a sense of fun. Intended to inspire creatives of any persuasion, this is more than a collection of Bantjes has meticulously illustrated every page of the book in her inimitable style to create an accessible work of art that is far greater than the sum of its parts. Quirky, poignant, astute, funny--this beautiful book presents a compelling collection of observations on visual culture and design. In Stefan Sagmeister's telling words, Bantjes's work is his "favorite example of beauty facilitating the communication of meaning."
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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415 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 9, 2016
This is an extremely pretty book which seduced me in Waterstones recently. I had to have it. And now I have read it. The gorgeous illuminations and settings for the text are the principal pleasures here, so take my tip & flick through it when next you visit a big bookshop. It will be on the design shelf, I think, all gold and sparkly. Inside it looks like this
http://www.bantjes.com/i-wonder/about...
As to what is ensconced within such industrial-strength gorgeousness, what we have is several rather fey and frankly somewhat watery essays, ruminations, blog entries by MB who is a great designer but perhaps not an essayist to rank alongside Dryden, Swift, Addison, Steele, Johnson, Hume, Lamb, Hazlitt, de Quincey, Carlyle, Macauley, Newman, Mill, Trollope, Huxley, Bagehot, Belloc, Russell, Beerbohm, Chesterton, Forster, Strachey, Woolf, Lawrence, Haldane, Huxley, Thurber, Priestley, Orwell, Waugh, Greene, Betjeman, Berlin, Trevor-Roper, Vidal, Naipaul or, indeed, Updike. But there was one about family photographs which was really worth reading & thinking about. Along the lines of - your treasured family photos will one day end up in a bric-a-brac shop and bought by someone who thinks they are quaint.
http://www.bantjes.com/i-wonder/about...
As to what is ensconced within such industrial-strength gorgeousness, what we have is several rather fey and frankly somewhat watery essays, ruminations, blog entries by MB who is a great designer but perhaps not an essayist to rank alongside Dryden, Swift, Addison, Steele, Johnson, Hume, Lamb, Hazlitt, de Quincey, Carlyle, Macauley, Newman, Mill, Trollope, Huxley, Bagehot, Belloc, Russell, Beerbohm, Chesterton, Forster, Strachey, Woolf, Lawrence, Haldane, Huxley, Thurber, Priestley, Orwell, Waugh, Greene, Betjeman, Berlin, Trevor-Roper, Vidal, Naipaul or, indeed, Updike. But there was one about family photographs which was really worth reading & thinking about. Along the lines of - your treasured family photos will one day end up in a bric-a-brac shop and bought by someone who thinks they are quaint.
February 27, 2011
Breathtakingly intricate page design. This woman conveys as much through her hand crafted illustrations as she does via her prose. Her subject: her thoughts on an eclectic mishmash of design topics. An essential book for anyone looking for an example of when print books are superior to digital.
February 20, 2023
Drawn in by the shininess of the cover, stayed for the ups and downs
This felt like a fruit machine scrolling though three targets - christian aesthetics and limitations, the garish neon of modernity, and art unintentionally made by the beauty of to-do lists
Overall a nice read of a woman mostly reflecting on her own thoughts, life and work
This felt like a fruit machine scrolling though three targets - christian aesthetics and limitations, the garish neon of modernity, and art unintentionally made by the beauty of to-do lists
Overall a nice read of a woman mostly reflecting on her own thoughts, life and work
December 21, 2010
I'm a huge fan of Marian's work, and her main stage talk at the 2007 Denver AIGA National Conference was spellbinding and moving—the best of the weekend. As to be expected, her book is beautifully crafted and if you're looking for a keeper of a book object, this might be the pick of the year.
Ultimately, though, I found the actual content to be boring and dry. Much of it was familiar from discussions and other readings I encountered in both design and architecture school, so I can't criticize her for wanting to educate those illiterate to such knowledge. But what made Bantjes' AIGA talk so compelling was how she infused it with the intimacy of personal reflection. Some of that is here, but it's as if the seriousness of the book format compelled her to justify her decorative work more academically, which, alas, doesn't leave room for her to flourish as a storyteller. "I Wonder" is certainly more than can be expected from a design monograph, but beyond it's lavish packaging, it just didn't interest the reader in me as much I as had hoped.
Ultimately, though, I found the actual content to be boring and dry. Much of it was familiar from discussions and other readings I encountered in both design and architecture school, so I can't criticize her for wanting to educate those illiterate to such knowledge. But what made Bantjes' AIGA talk so compelling was how she infused it with the intimacy of personal reflection. Some of that is here, but it's as if the seriousness of the book format compelled her to justify her decorative work more academically, which, alas, doesn't leave room for her to flourish as a storyteller. "I Wonder" is certainly more than can be expected from a design monograph, but beyond it's lavish packaging, it just didn't interest the reader in me as much I as had hoped.
January 10, 2011
Completely, utterly thrilling. Totally embodies its thesis (minimalist modernism is great and all, but a very Puritan distrust of ornament has cut us off from any equal cultural appreciation of things like ornament and wonder that were all over the Middle Ages and Islamic art and numerous other traditions, and she'd like to see some push-back). Gold all over the place, a chapter of arabesques, an appreciation of heraldry as clearer and less whimsical than corporate logos, encrypted love letters, and even a giant bit of fun with astronomy-themed jewelry at the Griffith Observatory. As mass-produced book objects go, this one has about as much AURA as anything I've ever encountered. Which, if you know me, means I am madly in love.
April 26, 2019
Essentially unreadable. I'm sure she must have her fans (this book was recommended to me (and others), online, as one of the great books about design) but this missed the mark in nearly almost every regard. The writing (so far as I could tell) was a bit of an eclectic mishmash of unrelated essays (like a random dipping into a blog), but her page designs were so oppressive that I simply couldn't do it. Sure, she's inventive, but the invention is better suited for a title page or a book cover than for the actual pages ... like when novice desktop publishers use a display font for their text instead of something suitable like Bell or Centaur.
After suffering for half an hour, I put it down. It's the equivalent of a conversation with somebody who's yelling at you while shining a strobe floodlight in your eyes.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
After suffering for half an hour, I put it down. It's the equivalent of a conversation with somebody who's yelling at you while shining a strobe floodlight in your eyes.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
February 4, 2018
Crazy book. So. Beautiful. Gold. Amazing designs.
As far as content, she had a bunch of interesting design ideas about Santa, memories, codes, heraldry, wonder, honour, ornament, that I would probably never have encountered. Not my usual type of reading, but the most gorgeous book I ever have read, definitely interesting for atleast thumbing through but a lifetime of thoughts and analysis by the writer.
Amazing book, not a life changer though
As far as content, she had a bunch of interesting design ideas about Santa, memories, codes, heraldry, wonder, honour, ornament, that I would probably never have encountered. Not my usual type of reading, but the most gorgeous book I ever have read, definitely interesting for atleast thumbing through but a lifetime of thoughts and analysis by the writer.
Amazing book, not a life changer though
November 21, 2018
Debated between 3 and 4 stars for this, but the graphic design and illustration is so gorgeous that I opted for generosity. Marian’s essays are pretty decent, though dwarfed by the artistry of her design. The best essay was by far the final one: an exploration of her mother’s “brain” books — notebooks left on the counter for decade and filled with the scribbles and notes of daily life. Beautiful, poignant, fascinating. The rest of the essays I could take or leave.
April 29, 2018
2/5 content
5/5 gorgeous
5/5 gorgeous
May 26, 2019
teknik olarak okudum diye işaretlememeliyim çünkü o kadar kötü yazılmıştı ki okuyamadım, bol süslemeli iç daraltan sayfalara baktım
June 27, 2019
I was kind of hoping it would somehow provide inspiration for something creative in my own life, no dice so far. Still fun to read.
Read
March 21, 2023the prettiest book I've ever seen im literally in love
October 6, 2025
Beautiful, from cover to back!
March 17, 2019
“I Wonder” so far is wonderful. Beautiful graphics and compelling ruminations on topics That interest me.
Quirky, personal, interesting, surprising: without being a conventional memoir, “I Wonder” gives us a well rounded portrait of Who Marian Bantjes is, how she thinks and develops her ideas. I loved this smart book. I stared at the chapter about secret writing for a long time and even there, like magic, words and meaning began to appear.
Quirky, personal, interesting, surprising: without being a conventional memoir, “I Wonder” gives us a well rounded portrait of Who Marian Bantjes is, how she thinks and develops her ideas. I loved this smart book. I stared at the chapter about secret writing for a long time and even there, like magic, words and meaning began to appear.
March 19, 2013
My favourite chapter was the jewelry of the stars, sun and moon. I also liked her musings about the alphabet itself, analyzing the design of each letter and to see the letters in their pure state she created letter forms using Illustrator. The pasta frames chapter was reminiscent of a childhood craft. Haven't we all glued dried pasta to something for an instant work of art? Her mother's to do lists got me thinking what my mother's to do lists would look like now, so many years after her death, or, for that matter, what would my own to do lists look like a few years from now. I take great satisfaction in crossing items off my to do list and then throw them away when I'm finished with them. Perhaps I should keep them from now on:) The "Santa" section was unreadable because of the script/scroll font she chose.
January 4, 2012
This beautiful book is a great addition to any typophile's shelf. The book includes several thoughtful (and thought-provoking) essays by designer Marian Bantjes, but the real draw here is the amazing (and inspiring) book design, typography and artwork. Clearly inspired by medieval illuminated books, each chapter includes large, intricate borders and attractive photography. Bantjes' uses everything from pasta to jewelry to "illuminate" her essays, and the book-as-object ends up telling as much of a story as the writing.
I see Bantjes book as a move toward a time when putting one's writing in a paper book will be a design and marketing choice, not a requirement. Let's hear it for more beautiful, high-quality books like "I Wonder."
I see Bantjes book as a move toward a time when putting one's writing in a paper book will be a design and marketing choice, not a requirement. Let's hear it for more beautiful, high-quality books like "I Wonder."
March 25, 2015
A beautiful and visually fascinating book of essays on graphic design, full of fanciful borders and illuminations created from everything from jewelry to pasta to Islamic-inspired patterns. The playfulness of the text typography made some of the essays difficult to read--in fact, I was not able to read the "Secrets" chapter, or couldn't be bothered to puzzle it out--and the essays themselves were of varying quality and interest. My visual favorites discussed and illustrated jewelry shaped like heavenly bodies; heraldry terms; and the cheap, moveable-type signs plaguing the streets of Saskatoon. My favorite to read was a lovely meditation on sorting through family photographs.
February 3, 2014
Obviously this is a gorgeous book to behold. Marian Bantjes is such a talented designer and typographer you could just sit and stare at the pages for days. Which is probably why I've been reading this book off and on for over a year and have only just finished it. The essays I enjoyed the most were the personal ones, particularly the notes on family photographs and the touching pieces about her mother's notebooks. I'm not sure how many new things I learned about design, but I do know I was inspired.
December 2, 2010
I’ve long been a fan of Marian Bantjes’ illustrations since I first discovered her work on the web (www.bantjes.com), so I was interested to see how she would fare in print. I WONDER is more a work of art than a book. [full review]
November 23, 2013
I love having this book of black and glistening gold on my bookshelf. It is a mixture of essays and fantastic images of design and typography. My copy is signed by Marian for this Marian. I bought it at an AIGA event in NYC in 2010 where Bantjes spoke to a packed hall. I bought it initially as a gift but decided to gift it to myself and only share it with others.
January 24, 2012
Marian Bantjes haunts me. I don't know. I look at her work and I just wonder (ha) at how someone can be so brilliant and successful as a graphic artist, yet clearly uninfluenced by trend. Or at least not any trend that I'm aware of.
February 19, 2011
Loved this book - such a beautiful marriage of word and pattern, meaning and shape - and quirky, funny, profound - with secrets!! Some I never could decipher. A complete treasure.
March 31, 2011
gorgeous and witty
June 14, 2011
A post-modern illuminated manuscript, disturbingly rare, painfully essential.
January 23, 2013
I most enjoyable excursion on the topic of typography and other things. Also a little tongue and cheek thrown in too. A beautifully printed book.
February 11, 2015
A nice casual read/picture book for artists/graphic designers with hearts.
March 17, 2012
pretty! of course I didn't buy it for the writing...
June 12, 2016
Beautiful. I want to buy it.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews