Welcome to the daring design world of Marenthe.
She invites you in to discover her captivating characters, luscious lettering and bonkers botany. Marenthe is an award-winning designer, illustrator, teacher, typographer, concept-maker and adventurer. Her work is radically different and sought after by the smart and shrewd across the globe.
Marenthe’s sense of adventure began at an early age. The family home in the south Netherlands offered many a make-believe world and plenty of hiding places. The wild garden boasted a forest where Marenthe spent hours playing and discovering.
Marenthe’s bedroom balcony, overhung by a cherished cherry tree, was a place to wonder – at life, love and how to reach the cherries on the farthest branches.
She got her artistry from Dad
Marenthe’s parents loved her fiercely and fervently with a feast of experiences and creative nurturing. Her father was a photographer of nature and believer in beauty. He would often head out in the dead of night armed only with his makeshift shelter and trusty camera to take photos of foxes and deer. By day he snapped birds, butterflies and three of his favorite people: Marenthe, her mother and little brother.
Marenthe got her own camera at the age of five. “That's where I learned to observe and watch. I took photographs, drew, painted and wrote all the time. I could escape into the forest and my very own world, where the animals were my friends. I spent so much time with my dog, the rabbits, a tame magpie and a jackdaw. My father had 100 owls… I’m not kidding. I still love drawing flowers, butterflies and birds.”
She got her creativity from Mom
Her mother was a free spirit. She was Marenthe’s guiding light when it came to travel, treasures and crafts. She took Marenthe with her on her travels to far-flung places, exhibitions and cultural activities. Marenthe was inspired and hooked. She dried flowers, sewed textiles, made jams and collected keepsakes. She knitted her own pullovers (and by the age of 15 had filled her wardrobe with 20 self-made items of clothing). The piles of 1950s and '60s magazines in her mother's attic provided another source of raw material.
She got her drive from both
Marenthe studied at the Academy of Arts, Graphic Design and Illustration in Belgium, graduating cum laude in 1994. Soon after, Marenthe co-founded Studio 't Brandt Weer. She was instrumental in the company's development and success for 10 years, producing cutting-edge designs that gained the Studio acclaim across the Netherlands.
Marenthe retains the playful, eclectic wonder she discovered as a child. She travels extensively and often revisits her collection of paraphernalia (or her mum's attic) to find more creative inspiration.
Marenthe has a passion for creating and an unquashable desire to share the wonders of nature, love and happiness with the world. She does this from her lovely studio in The Hague, around the corner from the Royal Palace, visited, this time, by birds of the city.
She became a Grand Prize Winner
Marenthe’s work has been recognized in Europe, Asia and the United States. She has won a number of prestigious international awards, including a European Design Award (silver) and Merits from the Art Directors Club, New York. Marenthe was shortlisted for an award from the Type Directors Club Tokyo and has been nominated several times for the Dutch Design Awards.
Marenthe’s dedication and unique approach to design were notably acknowledged by Phaidon, placing her among the 100 most promising designers worldwide in their singular international guide to contemporary graphics, a selection process overseen and critiqued by ten of the global design industry’s leading figures and critics.
In 2016 she became the Grand Prize Winner of the 2016 Global Talent Search and since that time her work has been represented by Lilla Rogers Studio in the USA and Kajsa Blomberg in Europe.
Marenthe is currently deepening her expertise by studying Human Design in the USA and Austria.
Marenthe loves to spend time with her two children, friends and family, who all provide a constant source of inspiration and learning. She loves yoga, food, Little Britain, flowers, reading, traveling, writing and cooking.
To be a part of this unique creative process - to be the inspiration for new images, quirky phrases, intriguing or funny characters - commission Marenthe to design something truly amazing for you.