Book review: Creatief Handletteren & Meer

A while back I noticed the book Creatief Handletteren & Meer online. As I’m very interested in drawing and lettering, my interest was peeked. I asked the publisher if they would sent me a copy in exchange for an honest review and they did me one better. They sent me a copy to review and two extra copies to give away to my readers. Which is you! So without further ado, let me tell you about Creatief Handletteren & meer (available in English as Creative Lettering and Beyond).

Upon first opening Creatief Handletteren & meer

Creatief Handletteren & meer exists of four different parts, all written by different authors. Each author has her own lettering speciality to talk about. The first part is about traditional calligraphy, the second about illustrating letters. Next up is a chapter about chalk board letters and last is a chapter about creative lettering techniques. The difference in authors is really noticeable between each chapter, as they all have different materials they use and a different way to illustrate their chapter.

Having this many authors and subjects in a quite short book (144p) means every author only has a small space to talk about her subject. Some information also gets repeated by a couple of the authors, while they leave a lot of other information untouched. This makes this book a short and inspiring introduction to lettering, but don’t expect a lot of in dept information.

The book is translated from English (originally titled: Creative Lettering and Beyond). One thing that bugged me a bit in the Dutch translation, was the formal way it was translated. It made it difficult to distinguish the individual voices of the authors. I wouldn’t have mind a more loose and less formal translation. Luckily enough the illustrations make up for this. (I also don’t know whether the book is also written this way in the original English.)

Apart from lots of illustrations and pictures the book also has practice pages, where you can (you guessed it) practice your lettering. I really like that they added this. When you’re not yet fully equipped for lettering you don’t have to invest in paper, because the book is printed on high quality paper.

Lettering my own piece

My favourite part in the book was the second chapter, about creative lettering. It had a couple of inspiring techniques for lettering, which I was excited to try.

I also found some inspiration in the third part of the book, about lettering on chalkboard. I didn’t want to mess around with chalk though, but I created a black & white piece inspired by the look.

Win your own copy of Creatief Handletteren

BBNC was nice enough to sent me not one, but two copies of Creatief Handletteren & meer to give away. I’m giving one copy away on the blog, the other one is up for grabs on my Instagram account. If you want to double your chances, you can of course participate on both platforms. So, what do you need to do to win a copy of Creatief Handletteren & meer? Quite simple, go down to the comment section below and tell me what your favourite quote is. If you have a story about why that quote in particular is a favourite and you want to share it, please do! If you want to an extra chance to win a copy, head to my Instagram profile and participate in the give-away there too. Good luck everyone!

*give-away closed! Winners: Naomi (on the blog) & Winterlelie (on Instagram)*

This give-away is sponsored by BBNC publishers. All opinions stated in this article are my own and are not influenced by the publisher. The give-away is open to all residents of Belgium and the Netherlands. Give-away ends October 1st, 2016. Winner will be contacted by e-mail.