Alfalfa Studio

November 29, 2016

Rafael Esquer uses 600 hand-drawn metallic icons to map Manhattan at night

Artist Rafael Esquer, founder of Soho’s Alfalfa Studio, previously created a wonderfully whimsical depiction of Manhattan named Iconic New York. Made up of more than 400 hand-drawn city icons, the map took him two-and-a-half year to complete. Forging ahead, Esquer has now released a new version of the map that features an additional 200 icons. Called Iconic New York Illuminated, its drawings are shimmering metallics that represent the lights, noise, and pulse of the island after dark.
More on the map
August 31, 2015

Whimsical Map Colorfully Details 400+ New York Icons

A couple weeks ago we dug up a map from the 1950s that offered up a mind-boggling menagerie of all things New York. With over 300 points of interest hand-illustrated in painstaking detail, we found ourselves overtaken with with awe. Now, comes yet another marvelous map courtesy of Rafael Esquer, founder of Soho’s Alfalfa Studio. His stunning depiction—aptly named Iconic New York™— is made up of over 400 hand-drawn city icons. A labor of love, the piece took Esquer an incredible two-and-a-half years to complete.
more on iconic New York™ here