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. ( )

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). ( )

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] ( )

I like Marian Bantjes mind. She's one of those wickedly smart people who can draw connections across time and seemingly disparate topics . . . mostly because she creates the space to observe and wonder. ( )

It's hard to know where to start when describing this book. Should I say that the materials used in the illustrations range from gemstones to shredded wheat? Or discuss the way she links the rules of medieval heraldry to modern corporate branding?

Bantjes' work overwhelms the senses and stands in opposition to stark minimalism and modernism. Her style isn't for everyone (I skipped an essay whose font was all but illegible), but her ideas will challenge and inspire anyone who loves design. Plus, this book is worth owning just for the essay with twelve elaborate text borders created entirely out of raw pasta.

Dizzyingly beautiful. ( )