About

My name is Esther Aarts; I am an illustrator and hand-letterer living in Nijmegen, Netherlands. I work full-time from my studio in the Zeepfabriek, a former soap factory. In addition to working for client projects I enjoy experimenting with “small press” side projects, like making risograph and gocco prints.

Photo Ⓒ Sven Scholten

Art shows and events

20×20 – GANG, Arnhem, NL (2010)
Popjugend! Galerie Husstege, Breda, NL (2010)
Happy Chaos – Subwalk, Arnhem, NL (2010)
Gelders Balkon 9: Illustration and Animation – Museum of Modern Art, Arnhem, NL (2010)
20×20 – Lux, Nijmegen, NL (2011)
Grenzeloos: Contemporary Dutch Illustration – Museum Kampen, Kampen, NL (2012)
Advents Salon Show, Dog&Pony Gallery, München, DE (2012)
Typo, Het Huis van het Beeld, Brussel, BE (2013)
Ltd edition – Walchetürm, Zürich, CH (2013)
Big Draw – Paraplufabrieken, Nijmegen (2016)
Ltd edition – Criterion festival, Zürich, CH (2019)

Selected client list

New York Times (USA), The Atlantic (USA), New York Press (USA), Target (USA), Hello!Lucky (USA), Blink Magazine (Denmark), MT Magazine (NL), One World Magazine (Netherlands), Heijmans Bouw (NL), BBC (UK), Ben & Jerrys, Graniph (Japan), BNN TV (NL), VPRO Gids (Netherlands), De Correspondent (NL), Trouw (NL), De Volkskrant (NL), Nosy Crow (UK), The British Museum (UK), Scientific American (USA).

Books

British Museum: Secret Treasures of Ancient Egypt (Nosy crow, 2016)
Look! There’s a Rocket! (Nosy crow, 2017)
Look! There’s a Submarine! (Nosy crow, 2017)
Look! There’s a Helicopter! (Nosy crow, 2018)
Look! There’s a Tractor! (Nosy crow, 2018)
British Museum: The Legend of Troy (Nosy crow, 2019)

Photo Ⓒ Sven Scholten

Book Features

Playful Type II (Gestalten, 2010)
The Threadless Book (Threadless, 2010)
Torso! (Gestalten, 2010)
Information Graphics (Taschen, 2010)
Reinventing Lettering (Rotovision, 2012)
A Map Of The World (Gestalten, 2013)
Illustration Now! 5 (Taschen, 2014)
De Verbeelders (Van Tilt, 2014)