- Feb 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Mexican paradise map-making © thesmarti
I made a friend in Copenhagen while learning Danish. Online. Covid times, amiright? We had such a fun energy together, and I learned she was also a graphic designer. So during breakout sessions, I would gush over new design projects with her. Many adventures later, I was overjoyed when she looped me in to help illustrate a map for a Mexican paradise.
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A couple of years ago, Karla Cifuentes landed a dream role for the design and promotion of the Careyes website. It's classy and sweeping with gorgeous photos and killer aerial shots of palms and bright colorful architecture. When the time was right, she pulled me in to build the map and customize some illustrations. Her goal was to make a responsive map with iconic key spots illustrated. Then the map would have pop-outs that direct people to the real estate options.
Part One was the map foundation. I patched google maps together, aerial shots. I studied drone photo shoots and tried to cobble together some understanding of the area. (It's really hard to map a place you've never been to.) I wanted to make sure the map was precise to the coastline so this required outlining pixelated photos and double-checking landmarks over GPS mapping for scale accuracy. It was tedious and frustrating, but had to be done. This took months because I dragged my feet on it. Thankfully Karla was patient.
1) Reference photo googlemaps for Careyes, 2) my first outline attempt and 3) multi-layer final map design © thesmarti
Eventually I submitted the map layout and Karla and I went back and forth on the coastal areas - some places were actually less beach - like Playa Teopa which is actually more brush than is shown on aerial photographs, and some cliffsides drop immediately into the ocean. I was grateful for Karla's expertise in the area. We also tried to highlight topographical depth in Careyitos Beach and Playa Rosa. To synchronize the colors, Karla covered over a lot of the forest area with some watercolor patches in dark green to emphasize the jungle density. The map foundation eventually culminated into this:
Explore the Territory Map - ?! Careyes - © Karla Cifuentes
Part two of the project was illustrating the iconic landmarks. Oh the joy of the research! Hunting out eccentric houses in bright colors, blue pools, lush landscaping - I had help with the drone photos from Karla's files. But the pieces featured on Pinterest and through online searches slipped me into some surreal fantasies of living the tropical life. Ah, Mexico - they really know how to play with color, and the architecture of Careyes is so bizarre and fun! Karla had to color correct me on some of the illustrations - house colors have been updated since their original debut. Karla wanted a watercolor look, so despite everything being sun-drenched and vibrant, I tried to stay light on intensity.
Actually, my bigger pickle was finding a way to draw these hot spots at an angle despite having reference photos that were either aerial or face-front. I spent way too much time building perspective lines, testing to see if the angles were right, and trying to add just enough detail to capture their essence. Again, it's really hard to paint something without seeing it in person. All my regular tricks of judgement and measurements went sideways until I finally got one illustration right and then started building the rest of them using the same perspective-line tools.
1) illustration of Careyes Club © thesmarti, 2) Careyes Club photo refernce © Karla Cifuentes, 3) illustration of Sol Occidente © thesmarti
And once we had some illustrations in the bag, we brainstormed a B-list of local hot spots and nearby marine life to help fill out the map. At this point I was just having a blast, zipping through sketches, and then coloring and shading with natural facility and ease. It's funny how sometimes projects can end with a bang like that. Here are some of my favorites from the complete set:
Illustrations of 1) manta ray, 2) centro del universo, 3) mi ojo iconic rocks, 4) copa del sol, 5) pueblo careyes, and 6) whale © thesmarti
After the project wrapped, it took a while to get paid. That's a whole other story, but it deserves a side note: a deposit upfront can help you sort through potential financial snafus before the project even launches. Lesson learned. But it was fun to work with my friend and draw naively in paradise for a while. And I'm glad the project was successful, and its serving its puprose to introduce people to the fantastic mexican paradise of ?! Careyes.
Karla is using a mapping software that allows a responsive interaction. On the website: https://careyes.com just click on Explore the Territory so you can see the map live. You can click on the different pins on the map to see the true photographs, or you can just pinch or zoom in to see the different illustrations I contributed to the final piece.
Cheers to a paradise project with a friend,
smarti
- Jan 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Books, books, books - a thousand lives in one lifetime if we are lucky enough to read them! A very dear friend become a librarian several years ago and thanks to her brilliant help, I’ve gone from reading 5 books a year to 55+ a year. We are playing a book bingo this month to recap what we read last year, swap recommendations, and just spend time together. In case you want to follow along, read on the for the book bingo card and the hacks I've used to expand my reading goals.
Book bingo is like any other bingo. The place card has different book categories and author or genre specificities in each box. Each player fills out the bingo place card according to what they’ve read in the year. You leave the box blank if you didn’t read anything relevant to the box. Once all players are ready, the announcer picks a box (individually cut out from a blank bingo card) out of a hat. Then each player puts a marker on that box. 5 boxes in a row wins a bingo! It’s fun to play because as people win the bingo- you get to hear what books they read. Sometimes it’s fun to swap bingo cards and just see what people read in each category. I think it would be brilliant to be able to fill out the whole place card - but I never get that far in the game either because we run out of time, or because some of the categories are hard to fill.
Reading eclectically is part of the game. I'll admit that it's a challenge to dabble in a little bit of everything. And I wonder if my tolerance for eclectic genres is higher because I've had to slog through strange and dense texts for previous careers (e.g. political theory and technical writing.) But I'm often surprised by genres I wouldn't expect to enjoy. Well, except thrillers. I just don't handle it well. My imagination runs wild and I get too scared!
The other challenge is getting through enough books to fill out the bingo card. There's so many good books out there, but time is hard to find. The best thing here is to make do with a little chunk of time. Even 5 minutes counts. Another trick here is to learn the eye scanning tricks used by speedreaders. I learned this technique as a kid and it helps me quickly zip through pages.
But I know that the best thing for my reading record has been the sheer amount of time I can devote to listening deeply as I go about my work day. Since I work from home, I don't have to worry about coworkers so I can play a book in the background. And I have a lot of work where I'm able to split my brain attention to both focus on a task and listen to an audiobook. It doesn't work all the time. For example, I can’t do it when I’m brainstorming or writing concepts. But I can listen intently while sketching, drawing and especially coloring.
The strange truth about that is that a finished illustration will trigger a book passage from the audiobook that was playing in the background while I made it. (E.g. ACOTAR got me through a long and tricky commission once!) It’s similar to a sensation I've had before while running and listening to podcasts. Afterwards, certain streets and parks would remind me of a part of the podcast conversation. Well, now I can look at a painting and be reminded of character scenes in the outline of a drawing, or whole passages in the paint strokes of an illustrated piece.
My happiest reading hack was learning about Libby from my librarian friend. Libby, the Overdrive app is an access app to your libraries online catalogue - including audiobooks. So it’s just like Audible - but free! Most libraries in the US offer it as part of their services. Some overseas libraries offer it too. I source my library cards from my hometown in Florida and I bought a membership card to a public library in the state of Virginia for Christmas. Between the two of those libraries, I can typically find most book titles I’m looking for.
Other hacks include listening to audiobooks while driving, or reading on phones for commutes, having two books by the bedside at all times and try to read at least a page from each before falling asleep, and carving out time once a week to read instead of watching Netflix. Oh, and get yourself a librarian friend or a book-loving friend. Then you will inevitably talk about books and constantly get inspired. It worked for me!
With that, here’s the top 5 books that tickled me pink this year:
The Bookstore on the Corner by Jenny Colgan A romantic and adventurous self-fulfilling fictional story of a Brit pursuing her life dream of owning a traveling van bookstore in Scotland.
The Tools by Phil Stutz A self help book by the psychologist from the Jonah Hill documentary filled with useful visualisation exercises to work through common yet difficult emotional and mental spirals.
Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan The hilarious true account of an introverts quest to become more extroverted. Filled with funny anecdotes, research and great ideas for switching up social routines.
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed The compilation of a gutsy advice column with piercing wisdom and beautiful passages. Knocked me off my socks.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kilmarer A wholesome walk through seasonal traditions and nature’s bounty alongside a botanist with indigenous roots. This book hooked me, made my climate anxiety wane a little and gave me philosophical ideas to dream about.
I filled out my bingo card with these titles and others that I read through this year. If you plan to play, I hope it helps you celebrate your reading record, spend time with friends and maybe get an idea for a title or two to find at your local library or bookstore. Download a copy of this past year's book bingo to play:
Cheers to books and whatever time we find to indulge them,
smarti
- Dec 14, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 24
Once fall hits in the USA, the countdown begins for the hallmark holiday movies, seasonal music, and decorations in the lead up to Christmas. But once you leave the USA, the seasonal culture changes and each place celebrates uniquely. This is the joy of being an expat and learning the nighe traditions of every place. Take it down to the southern hemisphere (where the seasons are flipped) and christmas happens in a very different way: it's summer! And it is certainly a summer christmas here in Namibia.
I'd like to first admit that I'm not big on Christmas. I don't come from a snowy place like Michigan. I didn't live a traditional USA lifestyle (military childhood, foreign mom). I can't get on board with the commercialism of the season (see: minimalism). Plus, we don't have children or family around that would permit the pageantry. So it's hard to feel the sparkle in the same way as other people do.
But while we were stationed in Copenhagen, I started to get a glimpse of why it would be a lovely tradition. Watching snow fall from the cozy indoors. Seeing Danish homes filled with eco decorations like felled branches, real berries and fresh holly. Buying locally farmed (and re-plantable!) Christmas trees. In short, Xmas felt more doable, natural and almost necessary to manage the oppressively shorter days and colder nights.
But we've also lived in Argentina where southern hemisphere flipped my expectations. There the heat builds, days get longer and summer holidays start in December. And sure, the culture carries a hint of Italian and Spanish christmas traditions, certainly the Catholic mass, some rich foods and seasonal songs. But there's more of sun-bathing, pool and family togetherness than the hanging stockings or jingling bells.
Here in Namibia, I'm surprised by the lack of a culture during holiday season. Sure, Namibia is such a tiny country - just 2 million people that are highly stratified by economic holdings and scattered on the outskirts of the giant Kalahari desert. There's not enough people to build big sweeping cultural traditions. And the hot summer weather certainly doesn't lend itself to warm sweaters and christmas lights.
I'm always flabberghasted when I walk into a home goods store around this time of year and see one wall flanked with christmas ornaments, holiday tableware, and the other wall stacked with brightly colored beach towels, and pool accessories! The ultimate battle of opposing seasons. Colonial clinging at it's best. Certainly, commercial exploitation at it's worst. But I'm not sure what to make of what people actually do.
I did attend a holiday party once last year. I brought some Christmas trivia games which no one except me seemed to know the answers to, and some seasonal indoor decorations which were politely dismissed as we sat outside enjoying the breeze on the patio. At one point, someone confessed to me that she had only recently learned that reindeer were real and not fictional animals like dragons! At the end of the night, Xmas in Namibia felt rather blasé and extraordinarily relaxing and lazy like true summer.
From what I can tell, it seems there are celebrations but they are split along the ancestral cultural lines. The German descendents here seem to follow their traditions with trees and decorations indoors. The Aafrikans (read: old Dutch) hold tight to their christian protestant church events and choir performances. The Oshiwambo, Damara and Nama and other tribes just embrace the summer hoildays and visit family up north or further south according to what they can afford. There is one thing that is universal - everyone seems to do a feast of some sort.
I asked a new friend here about her childhood experience. She only has memories of sunglasses and bathing suits, swim sessions and walks along the beach. I can see how there is a lot of joy in feasting on juicy watermelon and resting in the shade. Namibia is so very hot in summer!
So that's what the Mr. and I will be doing this year. Hiding from the heat, gorging on fruits, sipping cold drinks and enjoying these vacation days just as they are. No tinsel, no fanfare, but I hear the streetlights downtown feature safari animals and I can't wait to take a drive to see them from the refuge of our air-conditioned car.
Extending a sweaty but cheerful humbug to you wherever you are for the holiday,
smarti
