TED Talk: Different Artistic Approaches

Maira Kalman and Marian Bantjes are two women who are both designers, artists, illustrators, and writers. Maria’s TED Talk concentrated on illustration and writing while Marian’s was more about graphic design and typography. Though the woman share common titles and both work in the same industry, each being extremely talented, they have very different approaches to their work.

Maira Kalman is very free-flowing and calm in her expression. Her works are “rough” looking and don’t necessarily focus too much on scale and proportion. Her personality is reflected in her work as she explains that she daydreamed a lot growing up and was flunking out of college as she was sitting in coffee shops writing poetry. Maria uses moments from her life and thoughts she has at the moment as elements in her work. She is a dreamer and lets her mind wander, creating work whose source and inspiration may not always be understandable, but is always intriguing and whimsical.

Marian Bantjes artistic approach is much different. Her work is full of detail and intricacy. It is evident that she thoroughly thinks about every project she is going to take on with much effort and time spent on each one as explained, for instance, in her example of her 150 hand-drawn Valentines. Her work is fascinating due to the meticulousness of it, the detail that causes the viewer to explore every inch of the visual that is put in front of the.

Both of these artists resonate with me because I have a side that is more relaxed and expressive of the first thing that comes to mind and another that is more analytical and detail-oriented. While it is sometimes hard to find the right balance when it comes to my creative work between the two sides, it is helpful to have these to artists to take tips from.

Maira Kalman: Watch here
Marian Bantjes: Watch here