Map Cover and Back

With the design of my map sorted, all I needed to design then was the front and back cover. Like the map, I thought the covers should be black and white, however the design approach didn’t have to be as abstract. I decided to simply use ‘directions’ as the name of the map and started using a gridded layout, referencing the formality and organised nature of a standard map, something which can also be seen in the use of a formal serifed font. I also thought it would be appropriate to put a key on the back with all the symbols on. 

In the same way that the map itself uses a traditional format but subverts the method of communication, I wanted to subvert these features such as a rigid grid and a key, with more expressive contemporary design, hence not adding in what the symbols actually mean, and adding in expressive shapes to the boxes of the grid. Interestingly enough, these expressive shapes were inspired by the decal of a Fiat Ducato Timberland Motorhome. There is one parked outside my house all the time, and the curved lines, though slightly tribal tattoo esque, have quite a map like geographical form, almost like the shape of a river on a map- hence why it snakes round different parts of the type and imagery. As a way of acknowledging the chaos and miscommunication of the map, I put the words ‘where in the hell?’ In one of the boxes of the map as a sort of self aware funny commentary.