Here's something to perplex the tourists amid the slew of London-themed paraphernalia emerging this summer. Graphic designer Melissa Price has produced a set of two maps of the city; but instead of featuring its streets, the focus is on its underlying geographic features.
Price, who works for graphic design consultants, Cartlidge Levene, has stripped back the built environment to reveal the lie of the land beneath, showing how the Thames and its tributaries have shaped the city's topography.
Based on Ordnance Survey's DTM (Digital Terrain Model) dataset, the River and tributaries poster shows the small rivers, streams and brooks that feed into the Thames as it snakes its way through London. Many of these are now trapped under ground or have been channelled into the sewer system.
The Hills and valleys poster, meanwhile, shows how London neighbourhoods have taken their names from their geographic location, such as Kensal Rise and Muswell Hill.
Price's alternative portraits of the city come screen-printed in metallic silver with blue and green on GF Smith Naturalis Absolute Matt White 160gsm paper.
Names such as River Westbourne and Wembley Brook reveal the origin of the names of some of London's well-known neighbourhoods
The Hills and valleys poster maps out the ridges, hills and valleys created by the tributaries
Some of the names are so familiar in Londoners' minds that the geographic reason behind them has been almost forgotten
The posters come screen-printed in metallic silver with blue and green on GF Smith Naturalis Absolute Matt White 160gsm paper
-
Inside Valentino’s glamorous new Sloane Street store, inspired by the art of haute coutureThe latest in Valentino’s ‘The New Maison’ store concept opens on London’s Sloane Street this week, offering an enveloping marble and carpet-clad space of ‘intimacy and uniqueness’
-
Aesop’s Salone del Mobile 2024 installations in Milan are multisensory experiencesAesop has partnered with Salone del Mobile to launch a series of installations across Milan, tapping into sight, touch, taste, and scent
-
Dial into the Boring Phone and more smartphone alternativesFrom the deliberately dull new Boring Phone to Honor’s latest hook-up with Porsche, a host of new devices that do the phone thing slightly differently
-
The Shining: new book sheds alternative light on Kubrick’s infamous filmWe speak to designer Craig Oldham, editor of the new book The Shining: a Visual and Cultural Haunting about this cross-cultural reframing of Stanley Kubrick’s epic film
-
Rimowa celebrates its 120th anniversary with a new visual identityWallpaper* takes an exclusive look with CEO Alexandre Arnault and chief brand officer Hector Muelas
-
Spoonful of sugar: Studio AH-HA gives Biocol a new graphic identity -
Decorating Tate: branding specialists North refresh the museum’s identity -
Brick by brick: Why Not Associates build deSingel a new visual identity
