Heta Belarus Dzietka is a project/book about Belarus and Belarusians. It tells an illustrated story of the country’s uniqueness through the eyes of two girls: Masha and Marta, the main characters and the creators of the project. Not many people know that Belarus, a country of 10 million people, even exists! This is exactly why these two ladies set out on a mission to fix that:

The once blog about Belarusian uniqueness came out as a book in 2015 and quickly became a bestseller in Belarus. The book is a perfect guide/instruction manual to the customs and mentality of Belarusians. Heta Belarus Dzietka explores the most diverse aspects of daily Belarusian life, giving seemingly illogical things very reasonable (and funny!) explanations.

The book provides an insightful look from within with an outsider’s view: both Masha and Marta were born in Belarus, but moved to western countries at a young age, thus getting a good glimpse of both worlds. The two girls made it their mission to promote Belarus all around the world, but also to remind Belarusians how awesome their country truly is. The main goal of this project is to teach foreigners about Belarus, as well as to amuse locals with instantly recognizable real life stories.

I am the illustrator behind all the comics and the general visual feel of the “Heta Belarus Dzietka” project. Check out the links below to see more.

How it was made

The book and the comics
Character development
Social media and promo images
Merchandise

 

 

5 facts about “Heta Belarus Dzietka”

1. Over 25,000 books sold to date (and counting!)

2. Books sold in all major online and regular book stores in Belarus. Best selling book in Belarus in 2016

3. Large social media following (~5000 people) and hundreds of positive reviews from readers all over the globe

4. Crowdfunding campaign for three more books successfully completed

5. Book translated (from English-Belarusian) into: Spanish, Chinese, Russian and German. Russian book already published, others are on the way!