A chance meeting led to my working on a custom map for a client. She was getting married and wanted a map of New York City to be drawn with the landmarks that were meaningful to her and her fiancé.
Compared to the preceding drafts, the final orientation seems to fall short in dynamism, but it does look more like a map and less like a poster.
The client provided some examples of what she wanted. The idea of a custom-landmark map was clear enough, but the two examples seemed very different in style. Some clarification revealed that the client preferred a hand-illustrated style - all the better for me.
Research revealed a wide range of map styles. The client had indicated a preference for hand-illustration, but the reference images from her wedding decor suggested a level of refinement to her style. I decided to polish to the hand-illustrated style with elegant type.
The first sketch.
Scanned and digitized. The client responded with a couple of additional locations and a more personalized title.
A second draft with the addition of Columbia University and the lightbulb to indicate Edison, NJ.
The client then requested that the map be flipped so that it pointed North. I had chosen this orientation so that the foreshortening would condense the map and keep the landmarks evenly distributed. Flipping the map required redrawing the entire map underlay.
