Smiley's London
Client: Penguin Books | July 2017 | Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
This map of London was commissioned by Penguin Books in 2017 to celebrate the publication of A Legacy of Spies by the legendary espionage writer John le Carré (1931-2020).
It depicts scenes and locations that appear in le Carré's earlier books that feature the character George Smiley as the protagonist, including Smiley's People, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The map was made available as a fold-out leaflet from Waterstones bookshops.
The map is available to purchase as a print from my online store.
The map is designed to resemble a tour guide map from the 1960s, using retro shades of orange and blue and Gills Sans lettering inspired by classic Penguin paperback book covers, evoking the Cold War period in which many of le Carré's books are set.
Scenes include fictional locations such George Smiley's Chelsea home at No. 9 Bywater Street and the headquarters of the British Intelligence Services, alongside scenes set in real locations such as Paddington Station, Battersea Bridge and Hampstead Heath.
Illustrated scenes and locations (clockwise from top left): Alec Leamas's flat in Bayswater, featured in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Islay Hotel in Sussex Gardens, featured in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; no.14 Disraeli Street in Bloomsbury, the safe house featured in A Legacy of Spies; the British Military Intelligence Agency headquarters in Blackfriars Road, featured in The Looking Glass War; no. 5 Lock Gardens in Camden Town, the mole’s safe house in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; and the Foreign Office Conference House in Carlton Gardens, featured in The Honourable Schoolboy.
Illustrated scenes and locations (clockwise from top left): Hampstead Heath, site of General Vladimir’s murder in Smiley’s People; the Unipress Building in Fleet Street, featured in A Murder of Quality; The Circus, British Intelligence Services HQ located at the north-east corner of Cambridge Circus; Paddington Station where Smiley meets his protégé Ned in The Secret Pilgrim; no.9 Bywater Street in Chelsea, George Smiley's home; and the scene on Battersea Bridge where Smiley grapples with an East German spy at the end of Call for the Dead.