Topographic London posters by Melissa Price

Here's something to perplex the tourists amid the slew of London-themed paraphernalia emerging this summer. Graphic designer Melissa Price has produced a set of two maps of the city; but instead of featuring its streets, the focus is on its underlying geographic features.
Price, who works for graphic design consultants, Cartlidge Levene, has stripped back the built environment to reveal the lie of the land beneath, showing how the Thames and its tributaries have shaped the city's topography.
Based on Ordnance Survey's DTM (Digital Terrain Model) dataset, the River and tributaries poster shows the small rivers, streams and brooks that feed into the Thames as it snakes its way through London. Many of these are now trapped under ground or have been channelled into the sewer system.
The Hills and valleys poster, meanwhile, shows how London neighbourhoods have taken their names from their geographic location, such as Kensal Rise and Muswell Hill.
Price's alternative portraits of the city come screen-printed in metallic silver with blue and green on GF Smith Naturalis Absolute Matt White 160gsm paper.
Names such as River Westbourne and Wembley Brook reveal the origin of the names of some of London's well-known neighbourhoods
The Hills and valleys poster maps out the ridges, hills and valleys created by the tributaries
Some of the names are so familiar in Londoners' minds that the geographic reason behind them has been almost forgotten
The posters come screen-printed in metallic silver with blue and green on GF Smith Naturalis Absolute Matt White 160gsm paper
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Malaika Byng is an editor, writer and consultant covering everything from architecture, design and ecology to art and craft. She was online editor for Wallpaper* magazine for three years and more recently editor of Crafts magazine, until she decided to go freelance in 2022. Based in London, she now writes for the Financial Times, Metropolis, Kinfolk and The Plant, among others.
-
Eight designers to know from Rossana Orlandi Gallery’s Milan Design Week 2025 exhibition
Wallpaper’s highlights from the mega-exhibition at Rossana Orlandi Gallery include some of the most compelling names in design today
By Anna Solomon
-
Nikos Koulis brings a cool wearability to high jewellery
Nikos Koulis experiments with unusual diamond cuts and modern materials in a new collection, ‘Wish’
By Hannah Silver
-
A Xingfa cement factory’s reimagining breathes new life into an abandoned industrial site
We tour the Xingfa cement factory in China, where a redesign by landscape specialist SWA Group completely transforms an old industrial site into a lush park
By Daven Wu
-
The Shining: new book sheds alternative light on Kubrick’s infamous film
We speak to designer Craig Oldham, editor of the new book The Shining: a Visual and Cultural Haunting about this cross-cultural reframing of Stanley Kubrick’s epic film
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith
-
Rimowa celebrates its 120th anniversary with a new visual identity
Wallpaper* takes an exclusive look with CEO Alexandre Arnault and chief brand officer Hector Muelas
By Amy Serafin
-
Spoonful of sugar: Studio AH-HA gives Biocol a new graphic identity
By Sam Rogers
-
Decorating Tate: branding specialists North refresh the museum’s identity
By Elly Parsons
-
Brick by brick: Why Not Associates build deSingel a new visual identity
By Elly Parsons