Mapping Her Maj

Love the Queen but can't make it to London for the Jubilee celebrations? Prefer to toast Her Royal Highness in the comfort of you own home? Enhance your television viewing by following both her carriage procession and the River Pageant on Maps Illustrated handy fold out map on the cover of the 'Souvenir Special' Total TV guide.   

The procession starts at the Palace of Westminster and finishes at Buckingham Palace, a route which allowed me to draw some of London's finest historical buildings.  Sailing eastwards along the Thames from Battersea to Tower Bridge, the River Pageant will be an amazing flotilla of 1000 different boats, from a coracle to Gloriana, the Royal Barge (usually seen on the Norfolk Broad).                           With a readership of over half a million, my maps will be sharing  many coffee tables with the remote controls and a drop of something to toast the Queen on her 60 year reign. 

Map Man in Secret Book Romp or How I Became Tangentially Involved in the Levinson Inquiry

Dial M for Murdoch by Tom Watson and Martin Hickman is published today by Penguin. The book examines the connections between Rupert Murdoch's News International and senior politicians and the Met. My contribution is a map (see above) showing the locations of the Cotswold Sets' homes. The books contents are considered so controversial that even the typesetters (and the illustrator, hem hem) had to sign confidentiality agreements. It also holds the Penguin Books record for the shortest period of time between delivery of the final manuscript and publication. So there you go, even a mild mannered map drawer from Kent has been touched by the ripples of the ongoing Leveson Inquiry. I'm proud to say that in years hence I'll be a footnote.

The Heneries - Its the wrap!

Maps Illustrated and Lagom are thrilled to announce that we have made it through to the finals of the Henries Awards in the category for best Gift Wrap. The Henries are the Greetings Card trade awards - the "Oscars" of the Greetings card industry and this year over 15,000 cards were entered. The winners will be announced at the Henries Ball on 13th October at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

Fashion's Night Out Maps

The worldwide shopping extravaganza Fashion's Night Out event organised by Vogue/Conde Nast is back again on September 8th 2011. Helping to plan your shopping trips Maps Illustrated has produced three maps to show the major locations in three areas of Mexico City. Have wander round and imagine what you might buy!

Classic, with an equine twist.

The party organisers Kasimira commissioned a map for the wedding of a member of the Waley-Cohen family. Simple and classic, this map directs guests to the rural location close to the family home. My map for the Royal Wedding had added pelicans and this one has added horses because of the family connection with racing.

www.kasimira.com

Five Funerals and a Wedding (Map)

Not strictly a map for a funeral, but for a group of family funeral directors, Thomas Greatorex & Sons . The company has five branches across the beautiful Derbyshire landscape, from Buxton in the north to Belper in the south. The main watercolour map on the home page of their website allows visitors to click on each company and be taken to their pages. On the individual pages there is another simple map to show their location. I was cheating about the Wedding map - it's in the next blog entry.

http://greatorexfunerals.co.uk/

Michael A Hill at Maps Illustrated is new CSI

Maybe not as well-known as Grissom, Haratio or Stokes, Michael A Hill is the new CSI(Crime Scene Illustrator) on the block, with a colour map for the new book by Wife and Husband crime writers Nicci French. Blue Monday soon to be published by Penguin/Michael Joseph is the first in a new series with crimes stories based around the lost rivers of London. The first story follows the River Fleet from its source on Hampstead Heath until it meets the River Thames at Blackfriars Bridge. With the hand-drawn map on the front and end papers you will find yourself flicking back and forth to try and identify the Crime Scene illustrated by London's latest CSI ( Crime Scene Illustrator) Michael A Hill.