Ruth Rowland illustrated two maps recently that achieved very different solutions for each client. The Wall Street Journal Asia asked her to produce an illustrated map for their latest City Walk article for the colourful city of Mumbai.

"These maps involve quite a bit of research," Ruth points out. "Luckily I'm helped by the journalists in situ who will answer questions and send images of anything I can't find online - between us we aim to capture the flavour of the city."

"The WSJ article describes a walk through the city streets, and I'm asked to read through the copy, pulling out any places I'd like to illustrate while highlighting the street names on the route. An image from the map is used on the second page of the article, I chose to develop the Joy Shoes illustration - somewhere I'd definitely like to shop!"

Food and Travel Magazine commissioned the second map. This is a much simpler design for their current pull-out magazine on Flanders.

"I enjoyed playing around with the fresh colours and open textures on this one. It will be printed quite small so it needed to be clear enough to be legible at a small size."

"Mapmaking is a relatively new area of work for me and something I'm enjoying immensely," says Ruth. "Maps allow me to combine my interests in lettering and illustration with my love of travel."