Happy November. Happy new week and hello Mapology Guides!
I know that many of you think I’ve been purposely cagy and teasing a lot about my new venture. The truth is that it’s not something easy to explain, so I wanted to wait until the whole story is ready to be unfolded!
Shall we start at the beginning? You know that I’m a big advocate of the creative process, so I’m happy to share some of my journey with you. I hope you indulge me.
Early sketch for Be Present Perfect map | 1
Early sketch for Be Present Perfect map | 2
Early sketches for Be Present Perfect map | 3
Be Present Perfect map | writer: Simon Rodway | illustrator: Miranda Sofroniou
It all started towards the end of 2012. Ideas were brewing in my mind. But how and where to start? All I knew was that I wanted to collaborate and that I needed a partner in crime. This was not something I could or wanted to do on my own. So in 2013 I asked my good friend Mike Abrahams to come on this journey with me. Thankfully he agreed:-)
Early sketch for Matchmaking Pets & People map | 1
Early sketch for Matchmaking Pets & People map | 2
Early sketch for Matchmaking Pets & People map | 3
Matchmaking Pets & People map | writer: Sarah Farley | illustrator: Nanna Koekoek
We set out to encourage people to explore questions of every day life in a fun, humorous and educational way. Starting from the idea that almost everyone can use a map to work out where they are, the ‘traveller’ can then decide where they want to get to and begin the journey along a route and at a pace to suit. We fully believe in and support bite-size, visual learning and wondered if topics that are not geographical could be explored in map form?
Mapology Guides are the result.
Maps, although very in vogue and most of you know I’m obsessed with them, are still seen as mostly geographical. With the help of books like Mapping It Out, this is slowly but surely changing. The act of map making can reveal a lot about all kinds of topics, different ideas, scientific phenomena and so on.
We decided on our first three topics and now the challenge was to go and choose the right writers and illustrators to help bring our maps to life!
Early sketch for What’s Bugging You? map | 1
Early sketch for What’s Bugging You? map | 2
Early sketch for What’s Bugging You? map | 3
What’s Bugging You? map | writer: John-Paul Flintoff | illustrator: Jenni Sparks
The long journey began and it was truly a most thrilling time. The magic happened when all four contributors of each map met to brainstorm and work out the most appropriate direction and solution for each map. Then the hard work started.
This venture would have never come to life without the dedication and sheer hard work of each and everyone involved in this project. I cannot thank them all enough.
All members of the team producing the maps are recognised for their contribution and share in the success (or failure) of the project with 50% of profits split equally between them for 15 years. This business model is called ‘shared risk and shared rewards’ and Mike and I are both very passionate about this way of doing business. As designers we aim for creatives to be more entrepreneurial and have part ownership of their work.
For now I leave you to glance at our happy hours at Mapology Guides HQ, peruse the website and online shop. All feedback is welcome and much appreciated as we prepare for the next series of maps in our collection. Thank you for all your support and understanding of my infrequent blogging. Soon, everything will return to normality.
We would love you to follow our adventure on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Facebook will follow shortly.
This post will stay live until Monday 17th November.
