Testimonials | Hand Made Maps

TESTIMONIALS

John Roman . 'The Art of Illustrated Maps : A Complete Guide to
Creative Mapmaking's History Process and Inspiration' p143
David Atkinson . There is no one apparent approach, style or technique
for the highly prolific and talented map artist David Atkinson. His works range from
monumental murals to spot illustrations for publishing and advertising.
Atkinson's unique inventiveness places his art in a class of its own.
No matter what topic he's addressing, both client and public are assured to
be captivated by his designs. Atkinson's maps seem to project a subtle movement within.
Static images in his maps seem to dance in place; a trick of colour, composition
and aesthetic arrangement of shapes and forms. This quality enhances
the informational aspects in his map art, and while there is an underlying
consistency to his illustrated maps, each seems to break the mould of all
other maps in his portfolio. Atkinson's maps give the impression of being conceived
and constructed with a specific regard to the theme of the subject in hand.
as opposed to following a comfortable route the artist may have grown
accustomed to.

Graham Berridge . Art Director . Wanderlust Travel
I have worked with David many times over the years and he never
fails to exceed expectations. His creativity, exceptional draftsmanship
and keen eye for detail, make Hand Made Maps a perfect choice
when a map illustration is required.

Andy Cole . Director . Lawson Marshall Cole Design
David produced a fabulous illustrated map for the Wedgwood Visitor Centre.
Despite it being complex and demanding, he captured exactly the look
and feel we needed as an aerial view illustration. This was produced
on time and on budget.

Mike Sapnar . CEO . Transatlantic Reinsurance . New York
We moved into a new office space that had a common area where employees
could gather for lunch, coffee or conversation. In the space, there was a 30'
long, 9' high wall for which I wanted something unique that was both informative
and appealing to the eye. I have always been interested in maps and thought a
large map on the wall might be interesting. I had no idea where to start but
fortunately I ran across the Hand Made Maps website. I contacted David and
we spoke about general concepts. He suggested I let him take a crack at it
and see where it went. What he eventually created easily surpassed my
expectations. It is not only interesting from the perspective of our company's
business, but it is also a true piece of art, resplendent in color and full of nuanced
information. It is quite the conversation piece and it has added greatly to the
feel of our offices. David was responsive and creative throughout the process.
He not only created the map, but also figured out how to get it printed and
mounted on the wall in a timely, cost effective way despite the fact that we are in
New York and he is in London. Working with David was a pleasure.

Shem Law . Art Director . Radio Times
David doesn't just draw maps….
If you need a treasure map that looks like it's been festering away in Long John Silver's
jacket pocket for the last 30 years, or a map of the Beatle's London - that has been drawn
on the front of the White Album by John Lennon whilst travelling in the back of his
psychedelic Rolls Royce, then David is your man. If you just want a map, then I believe
that the Ordnance Survey department will sell you one - but if you want an illustrated
map that tells a story…

Adam Cormack . Senior Communications Manager . The Wildlife Trust
David produced a set of around 50 custom maps for our anniversary publication - 'Wildlife
in Trust : A 100 year History of the Wildlife Trust'. We were delighted with the finished
illustrated map artwork and David was great to work with throughout, taking on board
our comments but also making suggestions on how the maps could be improved. Very
highly recommended.

Oliver Craske . Editorial Director . Scala Arts and Heritage Publishers
We have commissioned a number of custom maps and map illustrations from Hand Made
Maps for publication in our books. Beautiful imagery, highly creative, David was a
pleasure to work with.

Susanne Frank . Art Editor . BBC History
When you need absolute attention to detail, and artistic flair and historical accuracy for
illustrated maps, look no further than Hand Made Maps. I have worked with David over
many years and could always rely on him for carefully crafted, beautiful illustrated maps
that worked perfectly on the page.

Amy Hill . Design Director . Penguin Random House . New York
My editor was immediately attracted to David'd work above all others, and this led to a
happy three-book relationship involving glorious endpaper illustrated maps for a Ken Follett
trilogy. David's work is rich, painterly and clever. Definitely "value added" for any project.
Did I mention he's lovely to work with, too?

Julia Noran . President . The Editor at Large . New York
David was fantastic to work with. He brought life and spirit to our logo and custom maps, making
our vision a reality. Not to mention. he is extremely pleasant and delivers in a timely manner.

Benno Maggi . Creative Director . NZZ Folio . Zürich
Working with David is lots of fun, an intellectual spirit and with artistic subtelty. His illustrations
and illustrated maps are pearls in every magazine. So in mine. I hope his ink never dries out.

Robert Stedall . Author . The Challenge of the Crown
David worked with me to provide illustrative and custom maps for my two histories of Mary Queen
Scots. In particular he redrew an illustrated map of Edinburgh to show how it would have looked
in 1566, depicting the location of Kirk o'Field. The result has caused a great deal of interest with readers.
He worked on an agreed timescale and price, and readily made any small changes on my suggestion.

Helen Ewing . Design Director . The Orion Publishing Group
David at Hand Made Maps was attentive and accommodating to our briefs, and has produced some
beautiful and original artwork for us. We like to create illustrated maps which have a style unique to
each book, and we know that with David we will achieve this on every new commission.

Paola Mustilli . Mustilli Vineyards . San Agata dei Goti . Campagna . Italy
Abbiamo avuto modo di conoscere David e comissionargli un progetto ambizioso : creare una
etichetta di due nostri per commemorare l'elezione del Sindaco di New York, originario del nostro
paese, Bill de Blasio. David ha interpretato perfettamente la nostre idea ed e'stato fantastico e
rapidissimo …. un genio di creatività !!

Kathryn Morrell . Production Editor . ecm design ltd
David consistently provides excellent work for us, with beautiful precise illustrated maps and
figures that follow clients' briefs to the letter. When asked to make amends, he is always quick
to respond and obliging. An absolute pleasure to work with !

Daniel Sutton . Creative and Managing Director . Designmap Ltd
David has worked with Designmap on a number of challenging exhibition projects. His creativity, skill
and ability to deliver the highest quality work to demanding deadlines has been key to a number
of our high profile projects.

David Rice . Art Director . The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
I've frequently used David's illustrated maps for our longer articles in The Sunday Times Travel Magazine.
They are always beautifully drawn and give the pages a real sense of authority and luxury. Whatever the
brief, David always comes up with a wonderfully creative solution - on time - and the finished results
make my layouts really zing.

Nicholas Cizek . Associate Editor . The Experiment Publishing House . New York
David's a pro at translating the vision you have in your mind into a polished work of art on the page. In 2012,
he produced an aerial view illustration for 'The Longest Race' by Ed Ayers

Simon Target . Tabula Books . Sydney
David came up with a beautiful illustrated map of Eastern Europe in record time. He somehow manages
to capture the feeling of the 'Rose Petal Jam' journey perfectly, all the while working on the other
side of the world.

Linda Zingg / Director of Graphic Design . Piloti Press . New York & San Francisco
After combing through portfolio after portfolio and coming back time after time to Hand Made Maps because
they did fabulous work, I recommended to the author of an extremely detailed and heavily illustrated book
about Venice (The Genius of Venice Piazza San Marco and the making of the Republic , by Dial Parrott,
published by Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2013) that we engaged them to create several maps. David Atkinson
in a consummate professional and an absolute dream to work with, very responsive and available and extremely
collaborative. Beautiful maps were made to illustrate the areas discussed in the book; we used two of them
as endpapers in the book (the look extremely elegant) and the other as the opening illustration.
Everyone involved in the project was happy with the end result.

Adrian Brown . Director . MSO.NET . Dartford . Kent
Hand Made Maps offer a wide range of approaches to custom maps, illustrated maps and aerial view
illustration. This takes in the functional, the decorative and the conceptual. Style fits within the brief
rather than being a leading consideration. Our experience has been with custom maps and these have been
excellent, delivered on time and on budget.

Sheila Dooley . Curator/Education Officer . Dublinia Viking Experience . Dublin
We enjoyed working with David and found him extremely reliable and efficient in getting our illustrated map
delivered on time and to specifications. He was also professional in his costings and the creation of our
custom map of The Vikings in Ireland. We would have no hesitation working with him in future.

Liz Luck . Design and Production Consultant . The National Trust SW
We commissioned 25 of David Atkinson's illustrated maps for our '1-Mile Walks' project in the South West.
We had been deliberately looking for a custom map style that would appeal to people who were unfamiliar
with (and likely to be put off by) the usual trappings of experienced walkers - OS maps, grid references,
big boots, etc. The little illustrated maps David created were delightful, friendly, approachable gems - we
printed them on uncoated postcards, with walking directions on the reverse; they looked very attractive
and were a huge success in helping to encourage more people to discover the joys of the accessible and
non-threatening outdoors. And, moreover, David was patient, responsive and flexible in dealing with a
fairly tricky project with very tight timescales.

Di Quick . Design Manager . NewSouth Publishing . Sydney
NewSouth Publishing has worked with David on illustrated maps since 2009. He responds enthusiastically
and creatively to all our requests and has been a delight to work with. Designs and corrections to the illustrated
maps are always on schedule and budget. He is so easy to work with, we recommend him wholeheartedly.

Paul Hogan . Global Operations Director . TransRe . New York
David Atkinson collaborated with TransRe in creating an illustrated map mural for our new NYC headquarters
that is at once beautiful and informative. David's skill and attention to detail in illustrated map-making brought to
life a vision that is very much a point of appreciation and discussion to this day. David also is a pleasure to work with
and someone we highly recommend should your needs be illustrated maps of the highest quality.

Clare Moseley . Director . Darkhorse Design Ltd . Birkenhead
Hand Made Maps took on a major poster project for us in 2013 - a complex illustrated map showing a historical
survey of the development of urban parks and public spaces throughout the world. This was created for the
Institute of Town Planning. This involved some creative negotiation and skilful diplomacy with the different academic
interests within the Institute. David took this on as part of the creative challenge, communicating to all concerned
at every step, explaining elements like the colour scheme in terms of story-telling and other visual devices that
underpinned the composition and design of the poster. It was an example of how an illustrator should work
with clients. The illustrated maps, aerial view illustrations and varied custom maps created by Hand Made Maps
show this care and concern for communication and we recommend his work unreservedly.

Emma Rafferty . Editorial Manager . Pan Macmillan . Australia
I worked with David on some very detailed and specific illustrated maps work for an extremely high-profile book and
author. David was charged with producing illustrated maps in the style of the era the book was set in, including fictitious
locations and landmarks in the custom maps, as per the book's events and plot. David did a wonderful job and
captured the style and mood perfectly; he was also extremely accurate. The author was most pleased with the
outcome, as we were, the publishers. David was also incredibly pleasant to deal with throughout the process, always
replied promptly and was very patient with the rounds of editorial alterations. I have no hesitation in recommending
David for illustrated maps within books and publishing.

Marilyn Michalowicz . Storyscape Project Co-ordinator . The National Trust . Mottisfont
We commissioned David at Hand Made Maps to design out new visitor custom map - his designs for other clients
had been seen and admired by staff and volunteers here. David produced a beautiful aerial view illustration for us,
working from his own reference made on a site visit, along with our own information and supplementary photography
for complex or detailed areas. He worked closely with us, by email and phone, fine tuning the designs until we were
happy with them, and working quickly on amendments so that we met our deadlines for printing. David was also
helpful in recommending style and layouts for our complex floorpans to make them easy and accessible for visitors.
Our visitors love the illustrated map as much as we do !