Michael A Hill illustrator for Romeo and Jules Stationery

A while back I made the acquaintance of Jennifer Grant, at the time she was working at the BBC in London producing some fine publications for the Beeb. After a short time sorting out Harrods on-line business prior to it sale she found herself at a loose end, so this ambitious New Yorker set up a stationery company to produce bespoke stationery for clients who don't want something special but want something that is beyond special.

The company named after her 2 cats (Romeo and Jules) has recently gone online to show case her work. These lovely designs enhanced by the letter press process are not just lovely to look at but gorgeous to hold and feel. If you are considering having some bespoke stationery made then I can't praise Jennifer's work more highly. To see her website go to www.romeoandjulesstationery.com

There you may be able to spot some works produced by me, which are shown in the pictures above taken by Karen Thomas photography.

Hill of Crosses- Lithuania

I have just been working on a map for Visit Lithuania and came across this great location in the north of Lithuania called the Hill of Crosses which is a hill that has been covered in 100,000's of crosses of all different sizes. I did a sketch of the location for the map but search the place yourselves there are some great photos of this location.

Shad Thames Map for Solstice Collection

Recently I was approached by John Bird of the stylish London Concierge Services to produce a map for a property they looked after for Solstice Collection ( http://www.londonconciergeservices.co.uk/index.html ).Solstice Collection is the very exclusive, upmarket and premier destination Club in the world. ( http://www.solsticecollection.com/simply-the-best.php ). The map was to be simple, stylish, informative but at the same time a map that could be easily used on the local streets and folded up and slipped into your pocket. The first map of Shad Thames is below/above which the Solstice CEO loved and we are discussing producing maps for all there properties worldwide... no where shall we start..umm Paris, Florence, New York, St Barts, Napa Valley or maybe Costa Rica or Aspen umm ..............

If you have a property that needs a map why not contact us for a quote.

British Book Design Awards 2010-shortlist

I have just heard from the author of '52 weekends by the sea' that the book has been shortlisted for the best design of an illustrated lifestyle book against 4 cookery books.Here is the list below.

Lifestyle Illustrated

52 Weekends by the Sea, Virgin Books
Miss Masala, HarperCollins
Rose Elliot’s New Complete Vegetarian, HarperCollins
Tender, HarperCollins
The Geometry of Pasta, Pan Macmillan

http://www.britishbookawards.org/2010/default.aspx

Hopefully the book with 53 of my maps will win an award and i can call myself an award winning illustrator again. fingers crossed

Welcome to Yorkshire, Hello to Turner

Last week or was it the week before now! I received two enquiries from Yorkshire, One for a map of Yorkshire to show the new Turner Trail that is soon to be developed, plotting locations of Turner's painterly exploits. While the second was for Dales Life Magazine to do a walking map of Bolton Abbey and The Srtid, incidentally one of Turner's sketching locations, and hopefully a series of maps to follow. The news that week was about the 'Crossbow Cannibal' and my Bank Holiday was spend in a wet West Yorkshire with a visit to the Yorkshire Game Fair at Harewood House, you guessed it another Turner location.
I suppose the week before came close doing a map of New York, a map for the Wall Street Journal and a trip to see SITC2 instead of a visit to the Big Apple. Where in the world will I be next?

Afghanistan map for Diplomat Magazine

I have recently been commissioned to illustrate an Afghanistan map for Diplomat magazine. A country that is very dominant in our minds but still largely unknown geographically. Hopefully the image which sits along side an article about how the allied forces will withdraw will shed a little more light on the country.

Illustrated Map for Clayesmore School, Dorset

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to produce a map for Clayesmore School in Dorset. The school were looking at a new marketing tool that would encourage children to want to come to the school not just from England but from all over the world.
The school came up with a treasure tin that would include items that the children would like to keep and look at, included in the tin was the illustrated map show the location of the school its close! proximity to London and also show some of the locations students may visit while at the school. I await to see how the map looks printed and folded in the tin.