Hand-drawn coloured icons from the map: moka pot, pigeon, cargo bike, cinema seats

BOXI-KIEZ MAP

3 min read
The Boxi-Kiez Map brings the independent shops around Boxhagener Platz in Berlin-Friedrichshain together on a single illustrated sheet, available free of charge on the counters of 31 shops. The initiative came from Bianca of hAusen and Myrre of Frieda Hain, who wanted to present the neighbourhood's independent retail as one network rather than as scattered addresses. I am grateful to both for entrusting me with the project.

The first sketches were drawn in a Moleskine Smart Pen notebook, which digitises every stroke as it is made. From these grew a hand-drawn icon set – a moka pot, a pigeon, a cargo bike, three red cinema seats – with one pictogram per shop, combined with Cy Text by the Berlin type designer Martin Wenzel. Colour-coded streets carry the shop numbers, and the map is printed as a tear-off pad, free to take.

I designed the map alongside my full-time job, as a homage to Boxi, my home for almost twelve years. I have moved since, but the Kiez remains close. The map is available in the participating shops and online.
Hand-drawn coloured icons from the Boxi-Kiez Map
ar-off pad of maps: take one, it's free
Two people holding up the Boxi-Kiez Map in front of a shop
Hand-drawn icon sketches for the map
A stack of Boxi-Kiez Maps on a wooden bench
wo people reading the map on a bench
he map in front of WiDDA & Co.
A pug lying next to the Boxi-Kiez Map
The map in the window of Victoria met Albert
The map held up among shelves of ceramics
Shop front of Big Brobot, one of the places on the map
Shop front of This City Rocks, one of the places on the map
Street in the Boxhagener Kiez with the Küchenliebe shop sign
A Boxi-Kiez map on striped notebooks in a wooden shop cabinet
The Boxi-Kiez Map on a red side table on the pavement
The Boxi-Kiez Map displayed in a shop window

#boxikiezmap#friedrichshain#illustration#mapdesign#shoplocal#berlin

August 2026