The accidental cartographer

I have always loved maps. During my childhood summers in Canada I collected illustrated maps of major North American cities, meticulously hand-drawn and painted by the aptly named company Unique Media. Somewhere stashed away in my cupboards are aerial depictions of Toronto, Vancouver, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, along with more general maps of the US and Canada. Unique Media also did a fabulous world map, which graced the wall of my bedroom in the days before Plus Ultra.

Early last week I discovered They Draw And Travel (TDAT), headed by brother-and-sister design team Nate Padavick and Salli Swindell. It all started with the website They Draw and Cook, from which a book has been published with a collection of over 100 recipes illustrated by artists from around the world. TDAT works in a similar vein – artists are free to submit creative maps of their favourite places, with an emphasis on locales that aren’t necessarily covered in the guidebooks.

I have been working (rather obsessively) on a personal submission in my free time, and I’m happy to say that it’s now been uploaded to the TDAT website! This is a tribute to one of my favourite parts of Hong Kong, and I would encourage readers to visit this lesser-known area if you ever find yourselves in my hometown. A larger version of the map can be seen here on TDAT or by clicking the image below. At least two more maps are in the pipeline, so stay tuned over the coming weeks and months!