Who doesn’t enjoy a good illustrated map? This project for Winchester City Council was all the more enjoyable because it focused on three local towns that I know very well; Alresford, Bishop’s Waltham and Wickham. Indeed, we live on the old road between Winchester and Alresford; so creating maps for these locations was just great fun. The pieces were commissioned for an updated Market Town Guide for the wider Winchester district and intended to be used across individual map pamphlets (Shown below).
Each guide features business listings and points of interest for visitors. The three towns did have existing illustrated maps but each done in a different style; so these could be slightly updated and given a consistent look. All the maps were created in Fresco, drawn digitally with an Apple pencil. Drawing straight onto the tablet, allowed for quick adjustments and fine edits.
Alresford Market Town Guide
Alresford was perhaps the trickiest composition. Although it has a wonderful centre (around West St and Broad Street) the nice walking trails along the river go much further out to the West. As the guide is supposed to highlight those central businesses I drew over to the play park and recreation ground; but cropped out the longer Arle Valley trail.
Download a hi-resolution pdf from Visit Winchester – Alresford Market Town Guide
Bishop’s Waltham Market Town Guide
If there was a difficulty in the Bishop’s Waltham update, it was due to the coverage of the original… a lovely traditional watercolour piece that appeared to show all of the town buildings as if seen from the air. It would have been a wonderful challenge to emulate that in my style; but it wouldn’t necessarily have worked on the other two locations.
Download a hi-resolution pdf from Visit Winchester – Bishop’s Waltham Market Town Guide
Wickham Market Town Guide
The Wickham map was much more straightforward. The previous edition was very stylised, a simple shapes; contemporary design with darker colours (a perfectly nice design it should be said). So adding my own level of detail felt like we were building on what they had before.
Download a hi-resolution pdf from Visit Winchester – Wickham Market Town Guide
Huge thank you to David and Liz at Buttercross Creative, who completed all the hard design work and incorporated my maps so brilliantly. Thanks also to Rachel and the team at Winchester City Council who were the end clients. I’d love to do more of these… so if you feel these are successful examples and you have a potential map project do get in touch!