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."

Take a Taco Tour

Street food is having a moment, especially in LA.  TV channel Food Network TV commissioned Michael A Hill to draw a couple of maps showing the locations of the top snack trucks.   LA's proximity to Mexico means that it boasts some of the best Taco trucks in the States.  But other nationalities are also on the scene.  One map  tells you how to locate the "Korean taco barbecue movement".  Folks, you heard it here first.  My maps are a mix of hand drawing and photoshopped images,  intentionally bright and bold to reflect the painted images on the taco trucks themselves.   

Map wrap and note books

Look out for my new Map Notebooks, soon to be in stores alongside my map wrapping paper. They are a handy A6 size, just right to slip into your hand luggage on your next city break. Featuring maps of central Berlin, New York, Paris and London in four different shades, these notebooks could inspire your next journey (and provide somewhere to plan it). Both the wrapping paper and notebooks are available from www.lagomdesign.co.uk, or in selected stores. 

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 Michael A Hill's 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 Broads).  

With a readership of over half a million, my maps will be sharing a 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 below) 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.

Passport to Love

No, not a Mills & Boon novel, but a recent commission for the wedding of Holly Branson (Sir Richard's daughter) and her groom Freddie Andrewes. The bespoke passport had its own idiosyncratic crest featuring a llama, a flamingo, a turtle on top with some gecko's on the shield. Inside there was a hand drawn map showing the exact location of Necker Island, for those guests who mistakenly thought it was just a location from Pirates of the Caribbean. Our special crest was used again in the Order of Service. More photos of the wedding (and the passport to love) are in this week's Hello! magazine and website.

New plans for RAC Club.

One of London's finest private members clubs, The Royal Automobile Club is celebrating it centenary this year and as part of the celebrations they commissioned Michael Hill to produce this lovely delicate watercolor plan of the Club House in Pall Mall, London, for there exclusive magazine 'Pell-Mell and Woodcote'. The plan allows members to see what is really behind those panelled doors and sumptuous drapes without stepping foot outside the cocktail bar.