About
Over the past couple of years we have worked with countless fantasy authors and publishers to bring their worlds to life. In addition to that we have established a name in the RPG industry and worked on projects by publishers such as Monte Cook Games (Path of the Planebreaker), Alchemy RPG (Lore of Aetherra), Tribality Publishing (Under the Seas of Vodari), The Design Mechanism (Lyonesse RPG), Toy Vault (The Princes Bride RPG), and many more.
My name is Daniël Hasenbos, I am a freelance cartographer and illustrator from the Netherlands specialized in hand-drawn fantasy maps. Drawing has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. I first discovered fantasy maps when I was reading the Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, and I couldn’t help checking where characters were, every time that a location was mentioned. I probably spent hours looking at that map, and it goes without saying that to this day, it’s my favourite fantasy map of all time. That was when I was 15 years old and it inspired me to draw my first maps. From there I continued to draw and improve my maps. Maps also inspired me to start building my own worlds. In 2016 I took my passion for fantasy maps to the next level and started drawing professionally as a freelance cartographer.
All of our maps are entirely hand-drawn in Photoshop and Procreate. Every shadow, every highlight, and every detail is drawn individually. We see our work as a true art form, one that gives both us and our clients complete creative freedom to bring unique worlds to life.
No AI or automated map-making tools are used in our creative process. In a world that is constantly demanding more and moving faster, we believe it is important not to lose sight of why we create in the first place. Not just for the final result, but for the journey itself. The challenges, the perseverance, the continuous growth of our skills, and the sense of pride that comes from overcoming each obstacle along the way.
I officially joined Daniel’s Maps in 2019 after years of working behind the scenes. I focus on marketing, the website, social media, business growth, and also help create maps by shading and drawing villages and cities.
I was able to turn my passion into my profession, and I love helping others bring their worlds to life and make them feel tangible.
