Client: Old Manila Walks
Project Completed: December 2009
We love maps. So when Ivan Man Dy contacted us, we jumped at chance to design a map for him. For us, it was an ideal combination of information graphics and illustration – a good workout for any designer.
We got approval for the final design on schedule and Ivan was able to release the map in December 31, 2009, ahead of his target of Chinese New Year. The map is free if you join his food tour, but it’s also available for sale, for those who want to follow the map on their own.
The map has proven to be popular and has received great feedback across the blogosphere:
- Ivan About Town
- dong ho’s eskapo 3.0
- Ferdz Decena’s Ironwulf.net: En Route
- Nina Fuentes’ Just Wandering
- Rain Walk
- lagal[og]
- happy foodies
The final printed map measured 24×10.5 inches spread out, and when folded 4×10.5 inches (6 folds), with full-color printing on both sides of a C2S 100gsm coated (gloss) paper. This was a little bigger than the original specification of “around 12×19 inches”, but the overriding goal was to make it handy and useful at the same time.
Ivan contacted us in July 2009 and was looking for a tourist map to complement his famous Chinatown walking tour. The demand for a handy map has always been high, but this time he had the idea of an ad-supported map that can be given away for free during tours.
Aside from the information graphic of the map, it needed a directory of tourist sites and establishments, their ads and coupons, plus some write-ups about Old Manila Walks and the history of Chinatown. Ivan provided all the content.
While the ads made the map feasible, the key to the success was the map itself. It had to be accurate, easy to use, easy to learn, and it had to be visually appealing. In terms of graphic style, it had to stand out from all other maps of Manila, tourist maps or otherwise.
While we enjoyed the challenge, it was very important that the client, Ivan, worked with us closely across many iterations of the map design. He provided valuable feedback on the overall look and down to specific graphic details of the map. The map had to be right, it had to be perfect – and this was only possible with the kind of working relationship we had with the client.
Once the final map design and layout was approved, the front and back covers came next. The longest and final step was getting the content completed and proofread. The regular exchange between us and Ivan, of revisions and feedback, was critical to getting the map to the final stage.