Map Illustration Services
Kati is a professional illustrator specialising in map illustration. She creates illustrated maps for various businesses and organisations, including universities, museums, heritage sites, festivals, restaurants, local authorities. Maps are also often created for editorial and publishing purposes.
Whether you’re a retail park, a neighbourhood development association, or a university, Kati will strive to capture the essence of your location through engaging map illustrations.
What is map illustration?
Map illustration combines vibrant, stylised graphics with the option of accurate geographic representation to capture the essence of a place. Illustrated maps are a great way to communicate the character of a place. They can be accurate and informative, or more stylised and expressive – often both. Whether you need to help people find their way around or just give them a feel for what makes a place special, a custom map can do the job beautifully.
Map illustrations are most often hand-drawn although sometimes they are created digitally, full of detail or more pared back. You’ll see them everywhere from tourist spots and retail spaces to new developments and local guides. Whatever the setting, they add warmth, personality and a bit of charm – turning navigation into something people actually enjoy and can relate to.
Custom map illustration services
As you may be aware, illustrators work in their own unique styles. My illustration style has been described as delicate, witty, insightful and uncomplicated. Whether you have a restaurant that’s a bit off the beaten track, need a map for a festival, or have an academic project in mind that could do with an orientation tool, I can adapt my approach to meet your needs.
Maps can be a fun way to create a sense of place, offer orientation, and even serve as unique merchandise. Read on to see some examples of the different map projects that I have been involved in.
Illustrated Walk
Whether that’s our commute to work, walk the dog or just do some exercise, most of us do the same walk over and over. This project remembers a special walk across Cambridgeshire and Norfolk remembering all the fun and unique experiences along the way.
Family Trails & Treasure hunts
Family trails can inspire adventure and curiosity in younger visitors, enriching their experience. By incorporating narrative imagery, maps can become educational tools that help children learn about your venue, event or story.
Narrative Maps
Narrative maps highlight the unique stories of your site by featuring characters from the past who connect with present generations. These maps are a special way to share the rich history of your venue, historic site, market town, or event, inviting an inquisitive audience to explore. They are ideal for projects that focus on location-based stories.
Illustrated Tourist Board Design
Illustrated tourist board designs incorporating maps are an effective way to capture the spirit of a destination. These maps often blend cultural symbols, local landmarks, and stylised elements that reflect the uniqueness of the location. The map above is of an island in the middle of Budapest, where I grew up.
Educational Map Designs
This is an educational illustrated map design, which is tailored for school children of all ages. Learning becomes more engaging with visual tools like this.
Map Illustrations for Travel and Leisure Magazines
Editorial maps are most popular with magazines, books, newspapers, travel companies and airlines. This example was created for a feature article about film locations in Scotland.
Site map illustrations
Illustrated site maps are ideal to set the tone of your venue. It’s a popular choice for castles, historic houses and heritage sites, although business settings also benefit from them in retail parks and shopping centres.
Campus Maps
Campus maps can be effective in appealing to prospective students and visitors alike. Maps that are both fun and informative can serve as navigational tools while sharing insights about the college’s traditions, best practices and fun facts.
Festival Maps
A well-designed festival map can significantly improve navigation between venues and enhance the overall vibe of the event, helping to draw a wider audience.
Maps for Local Governments
Map illustration for a park or woodland can enhance the appeal of your local park and foster an inclusive atmosphere in your community. Illustrations allow for creativity and can help attract a diverse audience.
My map design process in a nutshell
Research
Gathering relevant information about the project. This could include key landmarks, natural features, notable points of interest and is usually preceded by a meeting where we can discuss key points.
Sketching the layout
Based on the research, a rough layout is created in the form of a pencil drawing to determine the overall composition. This stage involves deciding where to place major landmarks, roads, and other elements, balancing accuracy with aesthetics.
Creating the illustrations
Once the layout is agreed, I begin to draw the individual elements such as landmarks, animals, and other details.
Adding labels & typography
Choosing a font or creating labels using hand-lettering.
Finishing touches
Colours are applied, often with a specific limited palette that evokes the places’ natural or cultural vibe. The final touches include detailing and refining.
FAQs
What are the benefits of using map illustrations?
Map illustrations can help make maps more engaging, visually interesting, and easier to understand. They can also add a unique aesthetic to maps, making them stand out from more standard map designs.
What types of maps can be illustrated?
Almost any type of map can be illustrated, from city maps to world maps, to thematic maps that display information such as population density or natural resources. Map illustrations can be tailored to fit the specific needs of the project.
How long does it take to create a map illustration?
Maps take time depending on the complexity and the level of detail. Even if your map is simple, allow a few weeks for a map project to be completed.
What should I include in my brief?
I have written extensively about this here, however, ideally you should be able to provide the following: purpose and audience of your map, size if for print, some description of the level of detail required, a list of all the places that should appear on the map, 2D or 3D buildings, any nice-to-haves, usage requirements (promotional or commercial) and the number of people included in the decision-making process.
More maps
What others have to say
“Kati has been a pleasure to work with. Her dedication to the project has been consistent from the first minute to the last. She captured perfectly what the Old Fire Station stands for through her extensive research, unique way of seeing, beautiful colour palette and dreamy characters. We are overjoyed with the result!”
Justine Malone
Arts at the Old Fire Station, Oxford
“The illustrations and site-map that Kati has created for Kelmscott Manor are really very successful and everyone associated with the National Lottery Heritage Fund project was equally impressed with their clarity and the way in which the drawings of the Morris family members, birds and other characters work so well with the typography. She has made a delightful contribution to the Interpretation of the Manor and its outbuildings.”
Peter Cormack
MBE FSA Hon. Curatorial Adviser, Kelmscott Manor
“Kati has been an utter delight to work with and her illustrations have already become a treasured part of our College community. Now, with the map, we have a lovely (and very useful!) souvenir to give our visitors!“
Maryanne Saunders
Lincoln College
“We’re so lucky to be working with such a talented and curious illustrator! Kati’s talent is not just her delicate graphics, but also the wit and insight that she instills in them!”
The Team @
Uncomfortable Oxford
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