Family. I draw a lot of inspiration from older illustrations, ink work from a time before camera. A time where drawings had to capture all the story and adventure to feed people’s imaginations.
For the first time in far too long, I sat down with my grandad to discuss the design of this title badge. These map titles are magic, and have been used for centuries, and so it only felt right to draw a lot of it in the style of old engraving work. My grandad worked all of his life engraving bank notes, spending weeks getting the line work just right ready to be used as the faces and drawings on money the world over.
Me and him have drawn together since I was very small, but as life takes it’s course this inevitably stopped. Delving into his talents was humbling, listening to a master of his craft fire up his engines once more. It rekindled our creative connection as he patiently explained where to start, his hands lined with 85 years of a life full of creative craft. It only struck me in this moment that our artisan obsessions were identical, rooted in tiny and precise line and dot, a pursuit that seems to run in my blood. Maps are the platform at the centre of this brand, but story is the beating heart.
Drafting this map of Hawai’i has been nothing short of beautiful. It reached out its hand and reminded me of my ‘ohana, my family. Both blood and extended, human and animal. Here’s to the wisdom we inherit, and to the family who surround us.