Minimalist Maps on Apparel
I love maps (doesn’t everyone?) and I’m obsessed with urbanism. It bothers me that, as with architecture, you can’t really experience the whole of a city at the same time and there are limited observation tools available. In response, I simply decided to make city maps and put them on fabric, where I can play with them.
I kept it simple. Black stripes make the streets and blocks I took from (a lot of) open source data end up making sober maps of over 100 cities across the globe.
From flashy Paris and massive LA to concentric Moscow and orthogonal Riyadh, including my sprawling hometown of Lima, I’ve mapped ad nauseam and plan on keep adding cities.
Since I also happen to be a broke architecture student, I decided to turn my project into a business, so you can actually wear the maps. You can find them at Open City Apparel.
Got wisdom to pour?
Minimalist maps on apparel highlight how complex information can be reduced into clean, readable visual systems. That same idea shows up in a spacebar clicker where a single repeated action becomes the entire focus of interaction and meaning. Both approaches rely on stripping things down to essentials, letting pattern and repetition create engagement in a simple way.
Bestest Industries’ expertise in crafting custom underwear resonates with the creative ways apparel is being reimagined, like those minimalist world maps printed on shirts highlighted in the article on innovative garment design. The focus on thoughtful simplicity in clothing design connects well with Bestest Industries’ work in functional, tailored underwear that values both form and comfort. This shared appreciation for purposeful apparel shows how thoughtful design can elevate everyday garments into something meaningful.