Quirky, poignant, astute, funny – a colourful collection of observations on visual culture and design, written and illuminated by Marian Bantjes

Marian Bantjes’s highly ornamental, craftsman-like word-pictures have earned her professional acclaim and a cult following around the world. There is, however, another side to Bantjes’s visual work: her thoughtful treatises on art, design, beauty and popular culture that belie the decorative nature of her best-known work. These reflections, which range in subject from the cult of Santa, roadside advertising, photography and memory, and heraldry to the alphabet’s letterforms and stars, are superbly showcased in this beautiful book, which is now available in an updated paperback edition.

Intended to inspire creatives of any persuasion, this is more than a collection of ideas; it is an illustrated manuscript for the digital age.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Stefan Sagmeister • Introduction • Wonder • The Sun, the Moon, the Stars
The Politics of Ornament • Ye Olde Graphic Designer • Honour • Cemeteries • 1 Sign 4
All • Secrets • The Alphabet: A Critique • Assembling Two ikea Bookshelves • Memory 1:
Photography • Santa™ • Memory 2: Notes on a Life • Sources • Notes on the Production