The Look of Love

The Look of Love hit UK cinemas earlier this year and saw renowned comedian, Steve Coogan ( with great hair), playing controversial ‘sex entrepreneur’ and property baron, Paul Raymond. Much of the movie is filmed around Soho, where Raymond’s successful empire was based. As part of the publicity for the film, I was commissioned by The Online Studio to produce a map illustrating the filming locations. 

Creating this map reminded me how much Soho has changed since i started visiting for work in the mid 80's when still some of the remains of the Raymond empire was still in full view, where once we had seedy sex shows we now have Bespoke Hotels such as the new Ham Yard Hotel opposite the old Windmill theatre for which I am creating a map.

Chow Down in Sao Paulo

I recently produced a series of maps for bespoke travel company Plan South America and now the South American theme continues with a commission from leading newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. I was delighted to be asked to produce and illustrate a map of the wonderful city of Sao Paulo for the front cover of the weekend section Off Duty. The map depicts various eateries featured in a piece whereby renowned chef Alex Atala offers a guided tour of the city and its culinary excellence. He discusses the best places to find fabulous food in a fabulous location. Sao Paulo definitely has something for the adventurous foodies, what with one restaurant, DOM, serving ants. Yes, actual ants. Although, surely you’d need a lot of them to feel full? Perhaps they’re served as a side dish.

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank - the haunting memoirs of a young German Jewish girl who recorded her and her family’s experience of falling victims to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Anne Frank’s diary has become a widely known and thoroughly read description of just how much devastation the Nazis caused to so many lives. Now, 65 years after the original publication of the diary, Viking, Penguin and Trademobile are publishing the first digital edition. The digital app will allow the reader to gain a greater emotional understanding of what Anne and her family had to go through. Anne’s thoughts and feelings will come to life as the readers follow links in the copy to experience the harsh realities of what it was like to be in hiding. The location maps by illustrator, Michael A Hill, allow the reader to click on various locations that Anne visited during her time in Amsterdam. This up to date version of an extraordinary girl’s diary has been described as, ‘an intimate record of courage and heartbreak’ and ‘a remarkable edition of the diary.’ For More information visit: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/penguin_morningcuppa/diaryofayournggirl_release.html

Chewton Glen Treehouses opening

Chewton Glen is a 5 star luxury hotel and spa, resting in the peaceful location of the historic New Forest National Park. It is within walking distance of the South coast and the seaside, making it the perfect destination for those who wish to sample a more refined and varied taste of the New Forest. Over the past year, the hotel has built six luxury treehouses divided into twelve tree top suites. Recently, a party was held for locals, staff, builders and past and potential guests to thank all involved and to showcase the treehouses. I was delighted when I was asked to produce an image for the front of the invite to the party. I drew inspiration from the champagne balloon ride the guests were treated to, which meant they could view the treehouses from above. Further information on the treehouses can be found at http://www.chewtonglen.com

This is a map produced  for Jonas Hallen to show how he could publish his maps on his blog for his coast to coast sweden
I am going to try Facebook too.
best

Short Walks from Bogota

Keep an eye out for Tom Feiling’s new book, ‘Short Walks from Bogota’, published by Penguin. Tom is a writer, journalist and documentary film-maker, who has travelled through Columbia to write the book. His aim was to paint a modern picture of Columbia and grant his readership access to one of the world’s least understood countries. Amongst others, he talks to the nomadic tribe, who, in times gone by, believed they were the only people on earth.

‘Short Walks from Bogota’ is an eye-opening piece of travel writing. Like many others, I never knew much about Columbia before and I confess, I didn’t think I was especially interested either. But when Penguin commissioned me to produce an illustrated map for the book, I thought I better do my research. A great read and another map to add to my hand drawn maps portfolio. Result.

Here is a link to Tom Feiling’s website, where you can find out more about the book and about him generally: http://www.tomfeiling.com/books_short_walks_from_bogota.html

A Bit Greasy

"My favourite skin care product maker, Vaseline®  through agency TMW(London) commissioned Michael A Hill to draw maps of seven UK city shopping areas in order to show that during a trip to the city centre or Mall, people walk further than they might realise.  The maps will be used at a series of events to recruit entrants for Cancer Research UK's Race For Life events (Vaseline is a corporate partner in the campaign).  Race for Life holds women only races all over the UK to fundraise for Cancer Research, so far raising over £457 million.  In order to encourage those who might feel daunted by the challenge of a 1k,5k or 10k run,  these maps demonstrate that wandering up and down the high street really clocks up the miles.  Hey, it's almost like real training.  The maps (including London, Manchester and Glasgow) can be seen on the Vaseline website and Facebook page.  Hard copies will also be distributed at special recruiting events and some are being used as banner ads to encourage even more to take part."