London with humour.
Seven years ago, illustrator and artist Jenni Sparks created the most famous map of the City of London for Evermade.com.
“They wanted me to do a london map that not only included all the usual tourist spots, but also showcased the local cafes, bars, and culture of the city,” she tells Traveler.es.
newly graduated, Jenni created in 2012 the London street map , but she never imagined the impact she would have afterwards. Her work of art would be the protagonist of numerous publicity campaigns in the city, as well as being used to welcome passengers from all over the world to the Gatwick Airport, she would later figure in the homes and offices of anonymous people around the world.
"I was very lucky: the map of london i drew went viral and appeared in many national and international newspapers. It has sold hundreds of copies and its online sale basically pays my rent every month, even 7 years later!” she adds.
The first map of her has already gone viral.
What is it about your maps that the public likes so much? she points humor and satire as one of the differential points of it. “The maps go beyond being a geographical reference, I try to make them funny and funny. Like, for example, drawing a silly picture of the queen next to the Buckingham Palace that says "the queen lives here"”, explains Jenni to Traveler.es.
In them you can identify through symbols, funny phrases and caricatures many points of reference such as museums, characters, train stations, cafes, parks or galleries.
To create them she has used your objectivity and creativity , in addition to an investigation process that lasts months. To create her maps, the illustrator not only documents with other maps, but also she moves to live in the same cities for a while. How else could she detail New York, London or Paris with such precision?
“It takes about 4-5 months to create a map from start to finish. I usually spend a month researching using books , websites, etc., and then I spend some time in the city meeting local people. After that, she spent about three months drawing nonstop. There is so much to draw that it can be very stressful! ”, She clarifies.
This is how Paris sees.
She so far she has mapped seven big cities : London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Sydney and Melbourne. “I have also illustrated many other smaller maps of different places like the Amazon River, Brussels, Antwerp, LA, Austin and probably more that I have forgotten. Last year I was commissioned to illustrate a map of Sydney and Melbourne So I spent some time in Australia researching them,” she notes.
From all her trips, she also creates small travel notebooks with everything she sees and her emotions.