A Bit About Me

Hello, I’m Berdene du Toit! Welcome to my spot of real estate on the interweb.

I can’t remember a time when I was not overjoyed to be making things. Everything from cards to toys to clothes to jewellery to books…anything at all. I would become a mini apprentice to any family member who would have to patience to teach me their craft: My grandmother showed me how to knit, my mom taught me to sew and my dad trained me in his woodworking shop.

Originally from South Africa, I immigrated to Canada with my family in 1999. After finishing high school in Ottawa, I moved to Toronto to attend the York Sheridan Design Program, where I was armed with visual language, conceptual thinking and a nerdy love affair for letterforms.

I had very little opportunity to pursue woodwork during my studies, and it was only after receiving my very own scroll saw one Christmas that I was reacquainted with my long lost love. Suddenly my tools started multiplying, and soon my apartment became engulfed in a flurry of mad invention (and sawdust). Cutting out letters on the scroll saw evolved into typographic bouquets, alphabet jewellery and typographic machines.