Inspiration – Creatives of the World

A studio on a small island off the west coast of Canada seems like an unusual place to find an internationally renowned designer, typographer, published writer, illustrator and mixed media superstar. But this is exactly where you'll find Marian Bantjes. This is where she crafts her own brand of eclectic graphic brilliance. GSM takes a look into the unorthodox world of Marian Bantjes… It's almost an understatement to say that the work of Marian Bantjes crosses many boundaries. Known for her detailed and precise vector art and her obsessive hand work, Marian has a love of patterns, ornamentation and fluid...

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‘Design is not a thing you do. It’s a way of life.’ Alan Fletcher lived and breathed design. Upon his death in 2006, obituaries appeared in newspapers around the world including The Independent, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Times. Described as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific", GSM15 takes a look at co-founder of Pentagram and one of the most influential figures in British graphic design, Alan Fletcher... Early Years Born in the 1930s in Kenya, Alan Fletcher rose to prominence in the 1960's &...

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Kiel Johnson is an internationally renowned paper engineer & cardboard sculptor based in Los Angeles. His work has been used by some of the biggest brands in the world—Disney, Adobe, Toshiba… GSM managed to track him down for a flat white and a chinwag between his commitments for TEDxChristchurch and his BJ Ball-sponsored community-collaborative workshop at The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu. GSM: Your life is a very creative one! Has it always been this way? KJ: I come from a creative family where my mother was constantly crafting and my Dad worked in newspaper. That's the old...

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The digital design work of American Susan Kare marks a significant milestone in the history of modern design. GSM takes a look at her career... If you were about in the 1980s, you probably remember the first Apple Macintosh. It was a truly ground-breaking product that went on to become a global phenomenon. The success of the first Apple Mac was thanks to the adoption of the Graphical User Interface (GUI). The GUI hid the lines of system code to 'de-geek' the technology for the average home user. Today, we take GUI for granted, but in the 1980s—Mac OS System...

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In GSM10 we take a look at the work of American design legend David Carson. Did you know he was once named the most famous Graphic Designer on the planet by Creative Review? He was also one of only two graphic artists named by Apple in their awards ADA. They described him as one of '30 most influential Macintosh users over the 30 year history of the computer'. How it all started - Graphic Design David started in Graphic Design almost by accident. In fact he started out with a BA in Sociology and had never heard of the term 'graphic designer'....

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American graphic designer, Ed Fella has been referred to as the ‘Graphic Godfather’ and ‘the contemporary master of hand-drawn typography’. A number of world-leading institutions hold his work, including the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (NYC) and the Museum of Modern Art (NYC). Ed Fella is also a recipient of the Chrysler Award (1997) and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Medal (2007). GSM14 takes a look at the work of Ed Fella… The Early Years Ed graduated from technical school in Detroit in 1957. He studied typography, pasteup and illustration. For the next 30 years he worked in...

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