An online visual diary, An interactive tale. Hybrid of photography and illustration, with the illustrator's recognisable pen drawings
This is an illustrated travelogue by Christoph Niemann for National Geographic charting his Arctic expedition. An online visual diary has been created. It is an interactive tale with illustration, animation and video with written text. As a travel diary, he illustrates his day-to-day activities in the northern waters
North: An Illustrated Travelogue is a click-through storybook on National Geographic's website and charts Christoph's trip to Norway's Fjords and Arctic Svalbard. Each page of the extensive diary is different: some are a hybrid of photography and illustration, with the illustrator's recognisable pen drawings, depicting his illustrated self, interacting with photos of the landscape. Others are entirely watercolour painted scenes, beautifully charming and capturing the magic of the sparse area.
Hand drawn maps and notes are also an integral part His work shows us that there was a "next" place everywhere.
From Paris you can travel to London, New York, the West Coast, Hawaii and so on. It was different here. Behind us lay the whole world, before us an endless sea of ice, nothingness. The end. . Looking at all the images is completely surreal. The little illustrations do not take away from the piece but add to the piece. The entire series has a similar colour scheme making it appealing and arousing the intent of cold and snow. Each animation was experimented, polished, and curated carefully for the best visual effects, honoring the concept of kinetic design.
It was a part for a campaign for National Geographic Expeditions, the travel agency arm of the National Geographic Society that sells tours and guided trips around the world.