As a little girl, I was always fascinated by the world atlas and city maps. When I had traveled to a new city, I always grabbed a map to find out where I had been. Instead of reading a book, I rather read a map! ;-)
I was dreaming about new adventures and most of the time I was planning new trips as well.
For my work as a fashion designer I had to make a lot of travels a year. The idea of drawing a map for kids came later.
It started when I was on a business trip to China and there I unexpectedly gave birth to my son Levi, who was born almost three months prematurely.
It was an extremely exciting time, as the hospitals were full and Levi's condition was critical. He spent a month in the incubator in Shanghai. The NICU department is closed to parents and that's why I could hold my son for the first time after a month.
Fortunately it all turned out well and we flew back to the Netherlands five weeks later. It was a tough time and to give everything a place I wrote the book Made in China about my adventure and I decided to draw a world map, so that later I could show my son where he was born. I first wanted to buy a map, but couldn't find a lot of nice world maps for children on the internet and so I decided to draw one myself. The outcome of the world map was so nice that I decided to sell it.
And so Maps By Annie was born!
But after a few years I thought it was time to do things differently. The trend of maps of cities and countries grew, but that were only maps in the form of a satellite photo, not maps especially for children. After a glass of wine with good friend Benoît, we decided to do this together. A new name, a new layout and a new website. After a year, we are not only selling our posters and puzzles online anymore, but they are also available in stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Ireland and The United States.