“Knots”
STANFORD ART HISTORY DPT.
📍 Illustrative maps for Dr. Emanuele Lugli’s new book.
Timeline:
June - Sept 2021
Role:
Assistant Designer
Tools:
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Pages
“Knots, or the Violence of Desire in Renaissance Florence”
A book by Dr. Emanuele Lugli
Working closely with Stanford Art History Professor Dr. Emanuele Lugli, I designed 3 reference maps with corresponding legends to visualize artwork locations for his upcoming book "Knots, or the Violence of Desire in Renaissance Florence."
The book focuses on the founding notions of vitality, beauty, and power in Renaissance Florence—specifically the role that hair, in all its artistic and painfully curated forms, played in the control of human desire.
Objective: Design a set of reference maps displaying the location of every single artwork mentioned in Dr. Lugli’s book, helping bring the history to life in a visual way for readers.
![05_3_Bréviaire_de_Paris_dit_Bréviaire_[...]Jean_Pucelle_btv1b84525491.JPEG](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609611a17e27302b1d0fc824/1677508606147-UTNRSM6B09O2PGAWNC73/05_3_Bre%CC%81viaire_de_Paris_dit_Bre%CC%81viaire_%5B...%5DJean_Pucelle_btv1b84525491.JPEG)
📍 A few of the plates & figures of Renaissance artworks featured in Dr. Lugli’s book
PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
🖋 (the art historical kind)
To begin the process, I started by compiling a detailed list of every single artwork and image featured in Dr. Lugli’s manuscript. This involved research into every artwork’s creator, original location, creation date, current museum location, and artistic medium.
In total, I researched and catalogued 103 Renaissance artworks——all of which originated from the historic center of Florence but are now dispersed in artistic institutions in all corners of the world.
💡 The research was an iterative process —— a collaborative back-and-forth with Dr. Lugli until every detail was perfect.
v1.
v2.
v3.
INITIAL DESIGNS
After compiling a list of every single artwork I would need to include, it was time to start placing these pins on the map! Starting from Google maps, I planned out every single location that would be needed (museums, galleries, historic churches, and more).
🗺 Mapping out the process (literally)
🎨 (Map pins color coded according to original 15th Century v.s. current 21st Century location!)
📍 Every anchor point was placed meticulously (& lovingly) by hand in Adobe Illustrator
First Drafts:
Still a long way to go . . . 😅
ITERATE, ITERATE, ITERATE
Over the course of the next few months, I designed, edited, reviewed and implemented feedback back-and-forth with Dr. Lugli dozens of times until every detail of the final product was perfect.
📧 Draft PDFs, SVGs, and emails galore - the inbox was always popping :’ )
✏️ Edits, edits, and more edits!
🧠 Dr. Lugli was meticulous, insightful, and absolutely devoted—could not have asked for a better professor to work with!
FINAL PRODUCTS
After 3 months of research, designing, editing (and then some more editing), the maps were done! View them in their full glory below.
This was one of the most rewarding design projects I’ve ever undertaken—knowing that these maps would be seen by curious readers in tandem with Dr. Lugli’s spectacular writing feels so exciting to me.
I’m glad that this project gave me the opportunity to grow not only as a researcher and designer but also a thinker——there are so many things that I’d like to explore further and improve on in the future.
FINAL THOUGHTS
⏳ Learning from the past, thinking about the future…
⚡️ Unbelievably rewarding to see the finished product actually printed out in the published book!
💡 Next Steps:
I’d love to get feedback from readers to see how effective the maps were at helping them gain a visual understanding of Florence as the historic heart of Renaissance artwork locations. Was the design clear and easy to understand? Or are there places where visibility could be improved?
The print format of these maps may have actually served as a constraint during the process, because the ability to translate these maps to a digital format would unlock more possibilities for direct user interaction and exploration. I’d love to spend more time playing around with and gaining more practice with creating interactive digital experiences for uses!
✨ Finally, if you’re interested…
