books by Stephanie 489

lena corwin illustrated map book + giveaway


I’m thrilled to end this week with a peek at a fantastic new book from one of my favorite designers, Lena Corwin. I’ve admired Lena since we met back when I first started Design*Sponge and have so enjoyed watching her work flourish and grow since then. Today Lena is introducing a fantastic new book called Maps, a collection of hand-drawn maps she’s done over the past seven years. Lena started drawing these illustrated city maps for an interiors magazine after her brother-in-law Noah (a magazine designer) suggested she tackle the topic. Maps looks at 40 of Lena’s favorites from her collection, including, but not limited to, 20 great American cities. Lena’s maps mix whimsy and function perfectly and always make me want to immediately hop on a plane and check out the spots she’s suggested. My favorite part of her new book is a set of ten interviews with local shop owners that accompany a selection of maps. While D*S strives to focus on design that everyone can easily access online, my heart has always been most strongly tied to regional design, so this book really makes me smile. I love the way Lena can capture the spirit of a city in one illustration — it’s a wonderful way to celebrate the differences and unique options each area has to offer.



Lena’s book goes on sale today at a special price of $29 (today through April 3rd, 2011). You can pick up a copy on Lena’s site and view more images from the book. Lena has also offered to give away two copies of Maps to D*S readers. So if you’d like to win a copy, please leave a comment in the comment section below with a link to one of your favorite maps. Whether you have a favorite map on eBay you’ve been scouting, one you look at online all the time, a hand-drawn version on your blog or a photo of one around your home, this giveaway is all about celebrating maps. So please share your favorite, and next week Lena will pick her two favorites to win the free book copies. (Comments will be accepted through Monday, April 3rd, 2011)


In honor of local maps, Lena also created a special map for Design*Sponge celebrating her favorite spots in her neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Her choices are listed below and depicted above. Thanks so much to Lena for sharing this with us today, and congrats on the fantastic new book. Stay tuned for a little sneak peek of Lena’s home on Monday, too!

Lena Corwin’s Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Map Key: (for map above)

1. Bittersweet (cafe)
2. Feliz (shop)
3. Chez Oscar (restaurant)
4. Dino (restaurant)
5. Roman’s (restaurant)
6. Brooklyn Flea (seasonal location)
7. Choice (cafe & restaurant)
8. Saffron (shop)
9. Brooklyn Academy of Music (opera and movie theater)
10. Stuart & Wright (shop)
11. Bespoke Bikes (shop)
12. Habana Outpost (seasonal restaurant)
13. Greenlight Bookstore (shop)
14. Provisions (market)
15. Olea (restaurant)
16. General Greene Ice Cream Stand (seasonal)

*Note: It was hard to narrow down my favorite choices since there are many more great businesses in the neighborhood!

Until Monday, I wish you all a wonderful weekend. And I hope to see some of you at Brooklyn Day at Terrain on Saturday! xo, grace

Below is a summary of this week’s highlights:

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489 Comments

Ginny

I hadn’t really thought of other uses for maps until I saw Lena’s and in my mind I could see these framed in my son’s room. The vibrant colors are what I like the most!

Terri

This makes me miss Atlanta dreadfully! I think it’d be wonderful to have such a sweet reminder of my college town?

Lynnetta

I love maps! I love know where I am in the world. I still keep maps in my car and I can spend hours looking a maps on Google. Which reminds me…I was in a new part of town last night, I need to go Google it to see where I was!!

jennifer mckinley

Lately fascinated by this map/infographic of my old Mission neighbourhood in SF: “cupcake shops can provide a more accurate and timely guide to the frontiers of urban gentrification than traditional demographic and real estate data sets.”
http://bit.ly/gTF8DB

Emily Gardner

My favorite map is one of first ever real atempts to map the lunar surface:

http://www.lpod.org/?m=20071215

It must have been awe inducing when it was produced and it still continues to facinate. It was pretty accurate too, impressive!

Alyssa

What an awesome book! I had no idea that Lena Corwin did illustration as well! My favorite city is Paris, and I love this colorful map of it: http://bit.ly/gyZ7dt

AC

Lena Corwin is one of my favorites, i just eat her blog up every time she posts. Its like candy for the eyes. Not to mention the extra special-ness of Wee Textile, love!

kristin

I studied cartography and do GIS analysis for a living, so of course I am OBSESSED with maps. I am currently craving these topography themed maps by etsy seller crafterall, so gorgeous! Someday I will have enough cash to get a custom one of the Thousand Islands. I am smitten with Lena’s work so quirky and cute.

Tara

My favorite map is actually a map of Bar Harbor area Maine we have above the mantle in our living room. It’s topographical and I just love the colors and details!! I should thank my husband’s ex-girlfriend for gifting it to him years and years ago! :) You can see it during a video on my blog–sorry it’s the only photo I have of it so far! cottage 1910.blogspot.com

Lindsay

I work as a graphics specialist and an archaeologist at a historical consultation company here in New Jersey so I am constantly looking through historic maps on a daily basis, this collection is one of my favorites! I’m also a huge supporter and fan of the architecture/history/culture that surround Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, NJ, so I hope you all enjoy the map!

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl?data=/home/www/data/gmd/gmd381/g3814/g3814a/pm005030.jp2&style=pmmap&itemLink=D?gmd:4:./temp/~ammem_5TB5::&title=Asbury%20Park,%20Ocean%20Grove%20and%20vicinity,%20New%20Jersey%201897.

caroline french

Maps of all kinds have always fascinated me. I would love to make a quilt of one of Lena’s maps.

Brigit Dermott

I love the map Lena made for purl soho’s move. I work in the neighborhood and I have it pinned up in my cubicle to remind me of all the fun places that are steps away. I also love These Are Things maps that have similar blend of reality and whimsy, which is how the world should be!

krista {urbanite jewelry

there’s actually a blog FULL of maps that the geography geek inside me just loves. it’s called strange maps and it features current and historic maps that are unique (and sometimes odd). SO awesome!

http://bigthink.com/blogs/strange-maps

would love to win this book–especially because stockholm is one of the cities shown in the preview and it’s my favorite city in the world!

Nadia

Hey! Love the book!!

I have a lovely old tattered and dog-eared mapbook of Paris from the 60′s on my desk for inspiration. I took some pics just for this occasion! My favourite part is the handwritten phone numbers for “Loupi” and “Nico”. I would also liek to add that I’ve been doing this while I really should have been doing my homework if that furthers my cause :)
Check it out on my blog:
http://nadiaturanski.com/blog

Sky

Wow. There’s nothing more thrilling than discovering the quirky hidden treasures in new exotic places. This would be the perfect handbook to explore some unseen parts of the globe.

I think that these maps and felted houses perfectly portray the emotions and journey that exploring a new place can take you on: http://web.mac.com/georgina.bell/Site/Images.html#1

alisha

Awesome book! I’d love to win a copy.

My latest map obsession is this 1930s schoolbook, hand-drawn map of England, found on etsy from the StoriesDivination store:

http://tinyurl.com/4kwk4k8

Can’t wait to look through other people’s favorites!

The Tall Chick - Mary

I absolutely love maps…. could look at them for hours!! Too bad I feel like they’re becoming a thing of the past with all the GPS devices and nav systems these days…. BUT, thank heavens for such creative minds reinventing them and making them as beautiful as ever!!

Here’s one of my favs… I live in NC and have visited all of these lighthouses! GORGEOUS! http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3897052954_6e229fb846_z.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/28601488%40N05/3897052954/&usg=__UexSUPJ_dPhNk4Kd3pQVsZmLCwM=&h=451&w=640&sz=179&hl=en&start=18&sig2=65hc8waEgz98rRi5Dp9FfQ&zoom=1&tbnid=pE34OoNKGyLFHM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=194&ei=Gx6WTce7DaHi0gGuuuSJDA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmap%2Blighthouses%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1198%26bih%3D620%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C558&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=722&vpy=228&dur=699&hovh=188&hovw=268&tx=141&ty=78&oei=Dh6WTdz7MeX50gGfs5DuDg&page=2&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:18&biw=1198&bih=620

rbjaneite

I have a big roadmap of Great Britain in the hallway of my flat, which everyone stops to look at- I love it when people point out where they’re from. I also have a laminated hand drawn map I made of the English counties (to try to memorise them before I moved to the UK – didn’t completely work!) which is much admired.

There is a poem at the end of Alexander McCall Smith’s “Love over Scotland” which describes for me the essence of a satisfying map – one which is personal and which evokes memories and emotions. It’s worth finding and reading!

Lauren

I love this vintage map of California with a monarch butterfly floating on top. http://etsy.me/hTMaxX

It reminds me of a story my dad told me about his time in the Navy when he was stationed on the California coast and he witnessed the monarch butterfly migration. It just seemed so magical – this map would be a nice reminder of that.

Stephanie

my best friend lauren has the great lakes tatooed on her forearm in blue. definitely my favorite map. ;)

Steve Dennis

I am a huge fan of maps, actually considered it as a career, doesn’t seem the same now when you consider they are done on computers. So thank goodness the drawn map still lives. Denis Wood is an amazing cartographer amongst other things. This American Life did an amazing story about him a few years ago.

Here’s a link to that:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2010/10/%E2%80%98everything-sings%E2%80%99-with-an-introduction-by-ira-glass

to his website: http://www.deniswood.net/news.htm

and my favourite of his maps:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6MBRVRiCIkc/Ryi5jqIR00I/AAAAAAAAAK4/pc5xg4ogkyQ/s1600-h/1overhead.jpg

Enjoy, Steve.

Mira

http://www.kirjastovirma.net/vanharaahe/kartta

This is a map of the Old Town in my hometown Raahe in the north of Finland. It is a beautiful area with some very old wooden houses. It’s a very unique neighborhood, there are only a few of them left in such a good condition in the whole country. I used to go for walks around there a lot when I still lived there, now that I’ve move abroad I just look at the map on my wall and imagine myself wandering around the pretty little streets…

Aubri

This is a bit abstract but I am kinda obsessed with this website called sporcle.com that has all sorts of “intellectually stimulating diversions” (nerdy, I know) but they have a countries of the world quiz, so that’s going to have to be my favorite map:

http://www.sporcle.com/games/world.php

Knowledge is power!

Abby

My favorite map is this one:

http://www.20×200.com/art/2010/09/prettymaps-sfba.html

It hangs in our living room to remind my fiance and I of where we met and where we’ll be married later this year. He lived in SF and I lived about 2000 miles away for half of the time we’ve been together. He finally took the plunge and moved away from SF, so I bought him this to remember all the time we spent together there and hope to spend there in the future.

Eva

Since 3 months, Antwerp is my new hometown. Biking through town, it’s so exciting to gradually fill in the blanks on a whole new map, drawing lines to dots. And to my surprise, you chose this city for your book cover. Fantastic!
Here’s another idea to keep the town you love close to your heart: Kelli Anderson’s hanky… nifty!

Claire

My father has always adored maps, and it’s a love he passed on to me. When I lived in Venice for a few months he sent me with a old Tabacchi map that was already well worn. I quickly got over not wanting to look like “tourist” and carried it with me everywhere. By the time I returned to the states it was falling apart – it truly became my companion.

Thank you for making this beautiful book celebrating maps!

Outpost

Here’s a lovely annotated map of Sag Harbor by author Colson Whitehead — his novel of the same name is based on his childhood experiences of summers spent living in the African-American community there.

Amanda

I can’t wait to scroll through the comments and check out everyone’s favorites. I try to pick at least one map out for every place I have been, or places I have lived. My favorite is one I can’t find online, but its a nautical map of the Downeast coast of Maine (where I am from and where I long to be every day in the summer). I have this 1903 map of Buffalo NY saved in my favorites on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/listing/65512044/1903-city-map-buffalo-new-york?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=map+buffalo&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_facet=vintage – I live in Buffalo now, and just bought a house built in 1910, so I am fascinated with anything giving a glimpse of turn of the century Buffalo.

Stasia

I love maps, and more importantly, so does my partner. His birthday is coming up and I’ve promised him I wont spend any money (I’m in grad school, we’re scrapping by!) but I’d love to be able to give him such a beautiful gift.

Usually, for our birthdays, which are close to each other, we’ll go on a trip together instead of buying physical gifts. This year, however, we wont be able to because we’re currently living an ocean apart, for the second time in our relationship! For me, maps symbolize longing, adventure, and love that can withstand anything!

I know Adam would love Lena’s maps because they are just his style – he loves clean, bold lines and colors. I love that these maps will spark our memories (we’ve traveled together to about a quarter of the locations) and our inspiration for adventures to come.

His favorite map may be a lovely vintage one of Maine (where he grew up) that we got at a little antique book and map store in Portland before it sadly closed.

Linda Poiesz

Lena’s book looks very fun! I visited Bali last year, and then came across a photo of an artist painting a graphic version of the map of the island….it made me want to fly right back! :o) http://www.mountainelm.com/in-map.JPG

Brenda Boucher

I found this 1888 map of Alton, NH, the town where my husband grew up and where we were married. His grandfather was the town doctor, with an office right in his large 1887 Victorian right on Main Street. I purchased this map and had it framed for my husband for Father’s Day two years ago. It now hangs prominently in our dining room.

Hollen

A couple of years ago, our organization (Neighborhood Writing Alliance) partnered with the People’s Atlas of Chicago to feature Chicagoans’ personalized Chicago maps – the ones linked to on this page feature someone’s interpretation of the city gentrifying, and someone else’s map of Chicago from memory.

http://www.jot.org/blog/2010/11/03/i-was-born-in-chicago/

Naomi

We had a local illustrator design our wedding invitations. My husband had a brilliant idea to include a map of the wedding venue (a French restaurant) and surrounding places of interest that were meaningful to us (our apartment, our local market, where to get good coffee etc.) It was not only functional but was personal and unique to us.
It’s my favourite map!

http://www.lucieverett.com/otherprojects/naomi-and-al/

Christie

I absolutely love maps– especially outdated ones that document old borders and former territories. I also love the idea of HUGE maps that you can mark up with pushpins to indicate places you’ve been and places you’d love to go; it makes you feel connected to memories of travel and loved ones abroad, while also keeping the hope of traveling in the future alive!
Example:

http://witandwhistle.com/?p=4110

Amy

I used to live in Fort Greene & seeing Lena’s map of my beloved neighborhood brought back so many wonderful memories! That map would have to be my new personal favorite.

Lindsey

Hooray for maps!

I lived in Savannah during graduate school, and the city really got under my skin. Thus, I’ve been eyeing this simple, graphic interpretation of the city’s beloved squares: http://etsy.me/gVcNZh.

Angela Erickson

I love maps – I think that they make the best wall art and I love looking at them in books as well. We just finished a map unit in my kindergarten class, and my favorite maps are the ones that my kindergarteners draw of their journey from home to school. They take the bus every day, many of them for a long time, and I love seeing the journey through their eyes, and the landmarks that they choose to put on their maps!

LindseyBee

I’ve been working on some maps of my own, so this gets me pumped to see this adorable book! Here is my favorite map–it’s a world atlas book my papa left for me after he passed away–I opened it to a coincidental spread; Massachusetts & Michigan–where I want to live & where I am from :)

http://plixi.com/p/88741213

It’s great seeing everyone else’s favorite maps, too! Such a great idea–have fun going through them all!! :)

Megan

This was an impossible task. I love maps. Love. Love. Love. I’ve never thought about a “favorite” map, but I guess I love maps most because of what they represent, which is travel and exploration, so my favorite would have to be a world map, and if I could only have one map for the rest of my life, I’d have to rely on Rand McNally’s classic. That McNally really knows how to do up a map.

http://www.hudsonmap.com/pages/world/rand_world_classic.html

bridget212323

I’ve always wanted these maps! I love the feature in Elle Decor…

i can’t find the photo but i’ve always wanted floor to ceiling world map wallpaper for a kids room.

notabilia

I LOVE maps, too. We have an antique one (South East Asia) in our foyer, a vintage one (of Buffalo, where the Mr. grew up) near our bedroom, and a fabric one (of the Paris Metro) waiting to be hung.

Favorite map? Oh dear. The new world map from Famille Summerbelle is up there right now: http://www.famillesummerbelle.com/prod_maps_world.html

So going to buy this if I don’t win!

Katie

Last summer I worked in free health clinics along the Tibetan border of Himachal Pradesh, India. I’m a medical student and this adventure solidified my path towards becoming a culturally aware public health advocate. Thank you HHE!

Beautiful book!

Katie

Last summer I worked in free health clinics along the Tibetan border of Himachal Pradesh, India. I’m a medical student and this adventure solidified my path towards becoming a culturally aware public health advocate. Thank you HHE!

http://himalayanhealth.com/webmaps/Slide5.jpg

Beautiful book!

Beatrice

Nice illustration !

Fav maps? hmm…I cant choose one, there are many favourite maps :D
I like vintage and handmade kind maps and maps be printed on tshirt, cushion, or anything.

Like these ones (I searched on Etsy)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/70011224/80-antique-maps-download-collection-jpeg?ref=sr_gallery_3&ga_search_query=world+map&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65409439/organic-cotton-vintage-europe-map?ref=sr_gallery_31&ga_search_query=map&ga_page=5&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

http://www.etsy.com/listing/31600573/birds-of-north-america-colorful-collage?ref=sr_gallery_22&ga_search_query=map&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

athena

I am a sucker for maps. Lena’s book looks amazing. Her illustrations are works of art in themselves; definitely a coffee-table worthy book!

Last year Martha Stewart Living came out with a gorgeous article in the July issue on vintage maps printed on textiles.

http://homedesign.marthastewart.com/2011/03/decorating-with-maps.html

We recently moved from Hawaii and I am homesick. I hope to incorporate a little bit of Aloha into our new home.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=380326115628&si=DKtMNMs%252BelO9c1HsGwA%252FSFDf1Uc%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMESINDXX%3AIT#ht_2437wt_1139

ness

Maps are my ‘peche mignon’ love them all from new to old ones specially from the 1600′s which I consider to be made by ‘the fathers’s of graphic design’ haha. Love the colorful ones. This one is from my the area were I live. PS. Love your book there are at least 3 places were I lived in!!!! Paris, Montreal, London…justs missing a brazilian city but well. Love it Love it Love it
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genmaps/genfiles/COU_files/ENG/LIN/owen-bowen_lin_1736.htm

Allison

I love maps from the places I travel. They help me remember adventures

Lucrecia

I always have a thing with illustrated maps. I love the fact that Lena has choose Buenos Aires, the city were I live most of the time, and I will love to see the map she made about my beautiful city.
Congratulations Lena !

I attched an illustrated map from Ian Mitchell
http://www.ianmitchell.org.uk/page4.htm

Dar

Hand-drawn maps collected in a book – count me in! Beautiful. I love seeing some of my favorite places through Lena’s eyes – she has such a uniquely lovely sense of design & taste.

Cyndi McMahon

I’d love to win this book for my children. My favorite map is from Wenham, Massachusetts. Its an illustration created of a college campus near my childhood home.

Susie

Love the maps! The illustrations are so bright and clear…Guess Nashville is my favorite because it reminds me of great times in a city I love.

Dorothy

I love Lena’s clean clear look of her maps. She is able to convey the feel of the places with minimal but wonderful use of objects and color. I love to use old and discarded maps in my art. I love all kinds of maps…of cities, countries, world and heart.

Molly

http://clearlakeindiana.org/maps/

I love this one from 1836. My grandparents have a cottage on Clear Lake, Indiana and my siblings and I have spent much of our lives enjoying it. The name of the lake was originally “Kasota” after the tribe that lived near it. I love the history of this map and knowing how the area around my hometown (Fort Wayne, IN) has evolved over time.

Kristen

A map as a way to organize a slice-of-life website. All those beautiful faces are regionally organized so you can see the cultural divides and overlaps. A sense of geography and place on the web. Rare and much appreciated.

http://yvanrodic.com/places

Ariele

i work at the canadian centre for architecture and this is my favorite map:
http://www.erreur404error.ca/
click on the object in the bottom right, Topographical map by an unknown draughtsman, n.d. CCA Collection.

Carole Penner

I am a native New Yorker who moved to Oregon 23 years ago, but is returning this summer. I have always loved reading the New York subway map. This is probably the most recent version, and is so colorful. With all of the boroughs, New York is such a huge place to navigate, but I have always loved how this map makes the city such a manageable place to live.
http://www.nycsubway.org/maps/routeimg.html

Heather

my favourite map story is of my 3 year old niece doing a drawing. i asked “haley, what are you drawing?” she said “a map”. i asked “where is the map of?” she said “no where”. so of course i scoffed “what good is a map of no where?” and she answered me with absolute certainty, “auntie, it’s a map of no where so you can use it anywhere.” it made perfect sense. sheesh!

i don’t have the drawing but i do love this old old map of my area of the world… http://ny-image3.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.209463455.jpg

it’s hanging in my living room.

Emily

I have always loved maps and the book looks so fantastic. Normally I am drawn to worn vintage maps of my favorite cities but lately I just have to figure out how to get one Sohei Nishino’s Diorama maps of Paris, not your traditional map, but they are fantastic and the process to get to this “map” is fascinating… hope you love it too.

http://www.soheinishino.com/en/works/dioramamap/paris/index.html

Cricket

Ooops, my bad. The map I listed above was really done by Neryl Walker.

I didn’t know Lena did the Purl move map. I have it saved in a Google Doc I use for inspirational stuff. I really love it.

Beka

Being a writer and English teacher, I’m drawn to anything literary. That’s why I love this map of Literary Britain and Northern Ireland: http://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/ekmps/shops/danihall/images/literary-map-2678-p.jpg

And just for curiosity’s sake, you should check out the Melbourne Poetry Map…it takes you on a tour of Melbourne, Australia via beautiful illustrations and audio poems: http://www.melbournepoetrymap.com/walks/

I do live in the U.S., in case my links caused you to think otherwise. :)

Soledad

That comment about cupcake shops in Mission, SF is genius.

My husband and I are big fan of maps, and we both have been collecting maps from all the cities in the world that we’ve been to. For his first birthday being his wife, I got him a big version of the Peters World Map. This map (not very pretty, I know – project for designers!) shows the actual size and proportion between the continents (you’d be surprised to see how small North America is compared to Africa), and it’s a good reminder of how maps (and history books) show us only a narrow vision of how the world is – but one than can actually predetermine the way we see it. Going beyond that, actually, the North is not really on “top” of the South. :)

For more info:
http://www.petersmap.com/page2.html

Hannah

There’s nothing like a map full of color and line and a little whimsy! I’m a fan.

Lucy

The Twin Cities! The Nordic influence, perception of “oh too cold to live in,” and progressive attitude make this the place to be. And the map captures just a very few of the reasons why!

Michelle

My husband and I love vintage maps, that remind us of places we’ve lived or visited. This is one of our favorites- it’s where I grew up!

http://etsy.me/enKkyV

lauren

this post made my day! as a recent transplant to brooklyn, i was so happy to see the fort greene map. it’s like a treasure map :) i have a habit of collecting maps and globes. one of my favorite purchases was a house warming gift for friends who had recently purchased their first home in boston. karen o’leary of studiokmo does some beautiful work! incredible detail… http://www.etsy.com/listing/62955765/boston-diptych-art-print

Linh

Is it cheating if I link back to a map you already featured? It is my absolute favorite.

Elyse

After moving to a new city, my brother painted this and hung it in his new apartment. It’s a famous corner in Winnipeg nicknamed “Confusion Corner.” I guess it’s a little piece of home for him in his new place. What I really love about it is that he had never even attempted to paint before, but this symbol was so important to him that he went about making it himself and now proudly displays it over his couch. Super cool, big bro!

http://tinypic.com/r/ifs94j/7

JennyMontyinSD

I’d love to see her version of Madrid, Spain. I used to live there, and find that it’s one of those European capitals that gets forgotten about in artsy-fartsy design stuff. Barcelona gets lots of love, but not my dear Madrid.

I found this interesting 1950s guide/map on EBay, but I’d love to have something with a bit more personality!

http://cgi.ebay.com/1950s-Madrid-Spain-Sightsee-Itineraries-Brochure-w-map-/390082877967?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad2c05a0f

m.

I love Lena’s books. She’s amazing! My favorite map – STOCKHOLM, becouse i’m a big fan of Scandinavia and like this city. Have a nice Sunday!

chris

This book stirs up the wanderlust in me. I’ve visited 9 of the US sites in the book, so I need to get going. I knit and sew and one of my favorites is the baby quilt store too!

jennifer

My favourite map is:
http://www.space-invaders.com/map_perth.html
Space Invader came to Perth in 2001 and put up his mosaics all around the city and I’ve had fun trying to figure out where they are hidden thanks to the clues from this hand drawn map by the artist. I still can’t find a few but hopefully I’ll get them soon

Leia E.

Having a VERY limited budget these days, I mostly have to admire beautiful things exclusively online. What a coincidence that I was JUST looking at Lena’s new map book and feeling disappointed that I wasn’t able to afford it at this time (even with the discount)…what a lovely opportunity!
these are two maps that I’ve lovingly admired and bookmarked for someday in the future:

http://www.famillesummerbelle.com/prod_maps_world.html

http://thesearethings.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/world-map-aqua

Katrina

This book is so cute! I don’t have a link to a map, but my favorite map is my globe that I’ve had since I was little. I used to love spinning it and landing my finger somewhere and what it would be like to travel there

jenA

maps are awesome!
Here is one I made inviting colleagues to a birthday apéro, with state-park like graphics pointing out the sites along the way.
starting point: work
destination: fun
route: scenic or cycle

Candice

As an urban planner i love maps, one of my favourite is this one. Simple and chic. The difficulty of making a good map is to be able to abstract and then bring the best out.

irene

i also am a huge fan of the famille summerbelle maps! of london and paris.

Deirdre fenderson

I love maps, but this one of Brooklyn is dear to my heart. After moving to Vermont it is nice to look at a little slice of Brooklyn!

alison

I would love this book!
I work as a map-maker for a social services organisation, mapping social trends like ageing and poverty.

I have so many favourite maps, but the one I have been most recently impressed by are these maps by Nancy McGabe:

http://flowingdata.com/2011/03/14/typographic-world-map-and-water-colors/

She creates maps by geocoding place ames, and then letterpressing and watercolouring them. Beautiful! She sells her prints on etsy but they keep selling out.

amelia

My grandfather sparked my love of maps, he had such great old globes and a hurricane tracking map that I used to love playing with. He even helped me make a salt & flour map of florida for a 3rd grade geography project.
Now that I have wee ones to pass on my cartographic love to, I think that the map quilt by abby at hi + low
http://hi-and-low.typepad.com/.a/6a00e0098c410188330133ec5868ce970b-pi
and the almost an animal map by katie viggers
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71190748/almost-an-animal-world-map-pre-order

are two of my favorites at the moment.

Thanks for the give away and great work on a beautiful book!

Stephanie H

What a great collection! My favorite map is this one I drew for my husband a long, long time ago.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34833612@N04/5586845757/

We began dating long distance and spent the first summer driving between Oxford, MS and Mobile, AL. He loves maps, so I traced this for him. (Of course, the letter itself is pretty cheesy.)

Hilary

First of all, congrats on your book! It looks so precious and clever. I could probably find a way to fill this box with links of map themed things that I adore. However I stumbled upon this amazing blog not too long ago and it hosts some pretty amazing ones. I may not be from San Francisco, but my heart definitely is.. here are a few of my favorites from Strange Maps..

http://bigthink.com/ideas/21464

and this one is my absolute favorite..

http://bigthink.com/ideas/21366

LiesbethC

wow there’s even a Belgian map in her book! I love!!!!
It wasn’t easy to find my favorite map on a photo, ’cause it’s a map in the local museum of Ghent (my city). There’s a room of glass and the walls + floor are a map of the city. So you WALK on Ghent, it’s superb!!!! You should see it irl!

http://www.google.be/imgres?imgurl=http://www.trendyman.be/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/stam-gent.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.trendyman.be/stam-gent-stadsmuseum/&usg=__8bhfjyvB-ts6Q9TFYlSSXNEVIFI=&h=537&w=800&sz=143&hl=nl&start=0&sig2=jtuux4q9sKuMKa4OuqYUZA&zoom=1&tbnid=qIlPBug086f9HM:&tbnh=157&tbnw=186&ei=73yZTZK3E4XqOYKavbYH&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstam%2Bgent,%2Bkaart%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dnl%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D1769%26bih%3D1107%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=303&oei=73yZTZK3E4XqOYKavbYH&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=116&ty=93

candice

melbourne! yeah baby!
;)
i live in melbourne now – met, married & mated with an aussie and now have two mini me’s :)
i was born in south africa though, and grew up in the beautiful suburb of camps bay, cape town
here are a few vintage style maps of camps bay (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilton-t/5471168208/), cape town (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilton-t/4384744001/)& a great 3D one of my beloved table mountain on top of table mountain (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7406299@N05/2686610466/) – the only mountain range to have a constellation named after it, mons mensae http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensa_(constellation)
thank you for a great giveaway, fingers crossed! x candice x

Amanda

Maps are great! I love the children’s book feel of the illustrations. Love it all!

Whitney

My favorite map is one that I drew for a project in a class about traveling. We had to think of the world through the perspective of a non-human object, so I chose my dog. His world had our house and neighborhood well defined, but then there were “clouds” of the other places we drive him to frequently – the dog park, my grandparents, and (gulp) the vet. It was a very fun project, and an interesting way to think about how experiences shape how we view the world.

Sadie

I used to live in Boston, and loved living there. I have so many memories of walking the streets of Boston when I was just out of undergrad, living on my own for the first time. I was proud of how well I knew the streets in a city with such a confusing layout (or lack thereof!). My fiance and I now live a long ways away, but he has applied to grad school in Boston, and we are anxiously awaiting the answer. There isn’t much I would love more than to move back to my city with him, and have the chance to show it to him. So I picked this map, which highlights the unpredictable streets of Boston in a gorgeous way.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/70117127/boston-city-map-original-watercolor-12×9?ref=sr_list_2&ga_search_query=cambridge++map&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

monica

we are a family of map-lovers! our 6 and 8 year old boys get giddy over each new map insert from their nat geo subscription.
some of our favorite maps, though, are those from fictional worlds: narnia, middle earth…

Debbie

I love all maps, but my favorite would have to be the large map of rome by Rizzoli. Oddly, this was the only link that I could find of it. I love the size as much as the content!

sydni

WONDERFUL BOOK!!! I’ve always been a little obsessed with maps.

My favorites would be this one I purchased of Oceania from a German book published in 1895 (I love the huge expanse of blue ocean!) or the giant classroom pulldown map of the US from 1950 (paper on canvas) that is in my daughter’s room.

http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.184064872.jpg

Adrienne

I love maps!! I keep all of my maps from my travels and display them in my photo albums and scrapbooks :) My favorite map is this world map that I just made last week. I covered two canvases in burlap and drew the continents on 3 different fabrics. I outlined each continent in tiny gold nails. It’s hanging over my couch in my living room!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61462422@N08/5589394688/

Lauren

Artist Tim Hawkinson made a self portrait topographic body map by laying in an ink-filled bathtub and taking photographs as he drained the tub. He translated the photographs into a drawing and I can’t for the life of me find an image of it online :(

I also like the idea of using mapping technology to make art like GPS drawings http://www.gpsdrawing.com/gallery.html
(i’m not sold on these particular images, but I think the idea has a lot of potential)

Avril

wow 462 posts and counting….this was a great idea! May I suggest more give-aways where people leave their inspirations?!?!

Sarah

Sorry i don’t have a picture or link. But my favourite maps have to be my grandads maps which have all the pubs marked with P’s with a little review of each one.

Tina C.

there’s a map on the wall at the Maryland Historical Society of Baltimore circa 1870. It has my house on it!!

Meg

I got into maps after discovering http://www.maptote.com … and then it opened up a whole new world!

I’m a writer without much of a talent for design. I love design, I appreciate design, but boy am I terrible at it. Thanks so much, D*S, for giving the rest of us Clueless Admirers a great place to find inspiration. Loved the preview of Lena’s book!

Lucia

I adore these style maps. Some function lots of cuteness. They look beautiful!

Jen

Love love love Lena’s book and all things maps – especially textiles! I love finding vintage map-scarves, aprons etc on Etsy like this little beauty, a pretty little map of Frankfurt! I would treasure Lena’s book… I also love her Fort Greene Map, I live just under the chair she placed on Clinton Avenue:

Frankfurt map/scarf: http://www.etsy.com/listing/71205214/mid-century-frankfurt-tourist-hankie?ref=sr_gallery_32&ga_search_query=map&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_facet=vintage

Jeanne Hlebo

I received this linen towel map of where I grew up as a wedding gift (30 years ago this May23rd!). My husband made the frame to preserve it’s beauty!

Here it is!
http://bit.ly/i2HzX0

led verlichting

Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search Engine Optimization?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good success. If you know of any please share. Thank you!

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