It never made sense to me why Louis Vuitton concentrated so much on travel series. Then I remembered that Louis Vuitton is the answer to modern luxury, modern travel luxury. It only makes sense that the design house that makes it elegant to travel, produces a series of travel books.

Thanks to social media networks people no longer need to see the world by getting on a plane and travelling for miles. You can see the world from the comfort of your own home. However we could all agree that looking at someone's photographs or videos does not have the same effect as actually physically being there.
As much as photographs have great stories to tell it is sometimes difficult to feel the emotion of a person or place. With Louis Vuitton getting illustrators to illustrate how they feel in certain places definitely makes it feel like you are there with them.


Daniel Arsham was the first illustrator to take part in the Louis Vuitton 2013 Travel Books Series and his illustrations make you feel as if you are in Easter Island. His illustrations don't look like what you would see on television, in a magazine or encyclopaedia but they definitely explain the islands are lot better than any of the above mentioned sources.

In the video, Arsham explains how the island is very tropical and sunny yet he chose to illustrate it by using dark blues and greens as there is a sense of curiosity on the island.

Even though Arsham's video provides no film footage from Easter Island you get a sense of how it must feel to be there and what he really thought about the island.

Learn More About Daniel Ashram
Website | Instagram
Because I have seen New York in numerous films and photographs, I wasn't expecting anything new. The only thing I could look forward to were the illustrations and the actual content of the film. Jean Philippe Delhomme is the illustrator for New York and his studio is absolutely beautiful.
In terms of content, I love how we see him paint and he let's us know which paint he uses.


Surprisingly, his work is completely different to how I, as an outsider to New York, has ever seen the city. I think that has a lot to do with his style of art. If you have ever watched the making of Pixar films you can tell that it is similar to the paintings used in the storyboarding of the films.

Delhomme illustrates how humans interact with the city and how the city interacts with humans. Just by looking at him you would think his illustrations would be very simple but they are far from that. His illustrations almost have a French feel which could make sense as he is from France. You can think of his illustrations as a French man painting New York.

Learn More About Jean Philippe Delhomme
Website | Instagram
Compared to Daniel and Jean, Natsko Seki's style is a lot more clinical. Having visited London before, it is far from clinical but Seki's work is very inorganic. Having said that, it is quite nice to see London in a different light, not in it's usual abstract way.


As inspiration, Seki looked at Japanese tour guide books which can also explain her choosen style. She takes photographs, her own images and creates a montage which depicts everyday life in London.
She barely speaks in the film and there is really no need for her talk as her illustrations explain everything.

Natsko Seki creates the kind of illustrations I love to see and seeing London through her eyes is lovely. It gives you a different perspective on how London could feel and does feel to others.

Learn More About Natsko Seki
Website
For those who have looked at African illustrations before, you will notice that Chéri Samba's illustrations have very african characteristics to them. For those of us who read Xhosa literature during our younger years at school it is easy to notice these illustration characteristics. Like Samba says, he did this travel book as if he was in Paris for the first time.


Samba tells about how he decides to use the colours pink and blue in his illustrations even if the image in his mind is not made up of pink and blue.
I love that he paints himself in his illustrations, it makes them a lot more personal and more relatable for the audience who might know his story.

Like Jean Phillippe Delhomme who did New York in the eyes of a French illustrator, it is lovely to see Paris in the eyes of a man from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

If you are interested in getting a new coffee table book, I definitely recommend getting one of these. They are absolutely beautiful and will still be relevant in years to come.