Over the past few years I've worked on illustrated maps for a wide range of clients: heritage organisations, farmers, authors, and private individuals commissioning personal gifts. What strikes me, looking back across these projects, is how differently each map was being asked to work. Not one of them was simply about geography.

I love working on these types of commissions as it really showcases the flexibility of map-making. Maps based on experience, emotion and memory aren’t about cartographical accuracy - they’re storytelling in its purest form. Whilst the viewer needs to be able to orient themselves - perhaps understanding the direction of travel or key landscape features - they aren’t using the map for way-finding. It is about their lived experience of the adventure and the landscape - what they personally noticed, encountered and even endured in the process of their journey - and how they share that story with others.

I applied for some grant funding this summer for support for a project working in partnership with local organisation, the Wilson's Tales Project, and Berwick-upon-Tweed Library. With sincere thanks to Create Berwick and their funders - the North East Combined Authority and Northumberland County Council - I'm thrilled to announce that the grant was awarded in late August. In addition to creating some illustrations of my own inspired by Wilson's Tales of the Borders, I'm going to be designing a self-guided walking trail leaflet, and running some workshops to support others to create some artwork inspired by the Tales, culminating in an exhibition in the Library.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at this bespoke illustrated map commission featuring five iconic UK race tracks. A meaningful gift created in ink and watercolour for a 70th birthday – complete with a custom car illustration and hand-drawn circuit logos.

When author Amanda Roberts approached me to illustrate a map for her new historical fiction novel, Lady of the Quay, set in mid-16th Century Berwick-upon-Tweed, I had no idea it would grow into one of the most interesting projects I’ve worked on to-date. As an illustrator living and working in Berwick, and someone with a long-standing interest in history and architecture, this project felt like the perfect fit! What began as a commission to create an illustrated historical map soon evolved into a full custom book cover design.

In 2024 I was commissioned by Anne Mair-Chapman to design a Welcome Board for her business, Kypie Farm. The goal was to create a custom illustrated welcome board featuring a hand-drawn map of the farm, complete with waymarked walking routes and relevant information for farm visitors (the farm encourages educational visits from schools and also has a number of Open Farm days through the year).

As we kick-off another new financial year, I thought it would be helpful to reintroduce Coostie Illustration and Design, with a little bit of information about what I do and how you can work with me.

I'm Ali and I love illustrating British wildlife, bringing a wide range of flora and fauna to life through my drawings and paintings, where I aim to capture the spirit and form of birds, plants and animals in watercolour, pen-and-ink, or coloured pencil.

A client recently got in touch to ask if I could produce a full-colour, ink and watercolour map, that they wanted to gift to a friend for their 30th birthday. The map was to include a mix of 10 landmarks and objects that meant something to the recipient at different stages of their life. I’ve outlined the process we went through here, to show you how easy it is to commission your own bespoke illustrated map.

I tend to leave out projects that I'm working on, as if I tidy things away they often end up never being finished! However, the sheer volume of competing projects I've reached over the last month definitely requires a bit of a Spring Clean!

Regularly spotting so many coastal birds is the inspiration behind my newest collection, celebrating seven species that can often be seen here. The collection features detailed watercolour and pen illustrations of Arctic Terns, Brent Geese, Cormorants, Eider Duck, Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper and Puffins.

I don’t just draw pretty pictures… I offer a range of services, from freelance illustration and graphic design, to custom illustrated maps and even brand and communications consultancy.

I wanted to create something that celebrated the fact that our family chooses not to own a car and demonstrate that it is (just) possible to travel around the UK by public transport.

It was this sense of colour that I wanted to capture when I started thinking about developing a series of illustrations that reflected how I saw Berwick. I wanted to create my own iconic set of colour swatches – bold blocks of colour that I could see in the landmarks around me.

Now all that’s left is to somehow turn this into a career…