MAY '24 Portfolio Brief: an illustrated map

Follow or join my map making journey

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Hi, I’m Libby, and I’m stepping out into the world of illustration, like a kid in a sweet shop, I want to try everything 🤩 This blog provides me (and perhaps you) with monthly accountability to goals and details all the things that are helping me reach them. I’m so happy you could join me for the bumpy ride…

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illo there friends!

Today I’m launching the first illo there! portfolio brief - a monthly project to help me (and perhaps you) build an illustration portfolio to attract paying clients.

In the last few weeks, I’ve begun discussing an exciting new project with a new client and friend that involves an illustrated map. So I thought this would be a great opportunity to make MAPS the first illo there! brief and practice my map-making skills.

The (believable*) brief

Visit London (formerly the London Tourist Board) is looking to promote London tourist spots along the River Thames this Summer. They are launching the ‘Thames Weekend’ and require a walking map for tourists displaying at least 10 major tourist destinations along the river during a weekend event.

The map should be aimed at families and suitable for children aged between 5 and 12 and must include the following 5 destinations:

• The Tower of London

• The London Eye

• The London Dungeon

• HMS Belfast

• SEA Life London

5 others can be chosen by the illustrator.

The event will be held on 9th-10th of August.

The map should be A4 size (or US letter 8.5x11 inches) and will be given out at tourist information spots throughout the city in the lead-up to the event.

The map can be single or 2-sided colour. The team are quite open to ideas of how the map is represented but it must feature red and white and the Visit London website can be used for reference.

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*This is a believable brief that has been made up to enable the creation of an illustration suitable for a portfolio and isn’t associated or affiliated with Visit London. The event mentioned is also fictional :)

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Things to think about

• Accessibility - Are there ways to make the map more accessible for people with visual impairments or disabilities affected by mobility?

• Form - Should the map be folded? If so, down to what size? Will this influence the design?

• Medium - will the map be made using digital (Procreate/Photoshop) or analogue (paint/pen/pencil) techniques or a mix of both?

Switch-up options

Here are some things you could change to make the brief fit your personal portfolio better:

• Destination - the map could be of your home city or one you’ve been wanting to visit

• Theme - the map could be themed for a different season: Halloween or Christmas for example

• Client - the map could be branded for a new brand or product launch

• Consumer - the map could be targeted at adults instead of children

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Confession Time - I have never made an illustrated map! So I’m going to be learning as I go. I’m assuming that might be the case for you too. Here are some resources I will be considering using:

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Resources

FREE Blogs

• Map illustration: A step-by-step guide - Tom Woolley

Tom Woolley - icon placement for an illustrated map

• Drawing Tutorial: how to make an illustrated map in 10 steps - Stef Maden

Stef Maden - adding street names to an illustrated map

• HOW TO MAKE AN ILLUSTRATED MAP STEP-BY-STEP - Greg Franco

Greg Franco - icons for an illustrated map

FREE Youtube videos

• Illustrate Your Own Map in Procreate - Peggy Dean

• Doodle Therapy: Illustrating Maps - Catherine Madden & Alice Lee - 2 illustrators in 1! This looks like a very cool Youtube channel I’ll be looking into further!

Skillshare courses

Paid-for courses you may want to try with a Skillshare subscription:

• Inky Maps! Illustrate a Beautiful Map Using Digital and Analog Media - Tom Froese

• Illustrated Maps in Procreate - Peggy Dean

• Illustrated Maps on Your iPad in Procreate + 18 FREE Stamps and Brushes - Liz Kohler-Brown

Project Timeline

There will be 3 stages of the project:

• Week 1: Research & initial sketches (pencil sketch) 1st-7th

• Week 2: 3x concepts for the client (black line) 8th-14th

• Week 3: Final (colour in any medium) 15th-21st

There will be 3 separate Substack chat threads where you can share your progress if you are interested in joining.

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If you are subscribing via email, chat is a feature on the Substack website (and app) where all subscribers to a specific publication can chat with each other.

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These chat threads will be free and open to anyone, to share the output from each stage:

1. Research

2. Concepts

3. Final

This way you can follow or join in at any point through the month.

Access the illo there! chat thread here.

For a bit of fun, I’ll initially use a random number generator to emulate the client's decision of the concept they like best and maybe throw in some generalised client comments to shape the final piece.

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Maybe chat participants could vote on the best at this stage but I have a feeling I might be going solo for a few months so the generator will have me covered!

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I'll also be using a Google calendar to keep me right with the deadlines which you are welcome to subscribe to here.

Report-out

You can follow along in the Substack chat as the month progresses. I’ll then aim to provide a summary of the project work shared in the chat in next month’s (June) portfolio brief email.

I’m really open to questions and ideas to make these briefs better so feel free to comment or reply with anything that comes to mind!

Don’t forget I’ll also be posting my usual monthly blog of what I’ve been up to around the 21st of the month here. You can catch up on my previous posts in the meantime.

Have a great month of May and maybe I’ll see you in the chat!

Libby