Destination Storytelling
Visit Sarasota County
I was commissioned by Visit Sarasota County and GOSH PR to spend a week on Florida’s Gulf Coast documenting an authentic insight into the destination through an illustrator’s perspective - using on-location reportage illustration, photography and film.
Alongside creating a series of visual stories for Visit Sarasota County’s digital campaign, I led a live drawing experience at the luxury hotel Art Ovation, bringing guests into the creative process.
This project showcases how reportage illustration can work alongside writing, photography and cinematography to create a unique and timeless visual identity for a destination, hotel or cultural property. The resulting artwork can be developed into visual assets across marketing, editorial, publishing, social content, events and licensing.
Sharing a New Perspective
Travel photography documents what a destination looks like. Illustration captures how it can feel.
I use an immersive process combining reportage drawing, writing, interviews, film and photography to build visual stories around culture, craft, architecture and the people who shape the places we experience.
The resulting body of work offers a new perspective to experience and communicate a destination - rooted in deep observation, curiosity and first-hand experience. The illustrations can be developed across campaigns, editorial, social media, guest experiences, publications, products and licensing.
Reportage Illustration
All drawings were created with Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils on site in Sarasota. The original sketchbook drawings shown below, can then be scanned and edited in Photoshop ready to be used across both physical, print and digital marketing.
There is something about stopping to draw a place that changes how you see it. You slow down and notice the quieter details. Drawing will always be my favourite way to explore a new location and feel deeply connected.
The act of drawing on location becomes an invitation for conversation - creating connections everywhere you go. Art enables you to communicate across language barriers and cultures when words aren’t enough.
The Ringling Museum of Art
Bayfront Park
Columbia Restaurant
Circus Vogue Event
Marie Selby Botanical Garden
LIVE ILLUSTRATION
Art Ovation Hotel
During the week in Sarasota I led a live drawing event in the luxury hotel Art Ovation. During this immersive drawing session, guests became part of the illustration process, watching and asking questions as the drawing came together - featuring the local landmark of The Ringling Museum of Art.
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
An inspirational carousel post highlighting the beauty of drawing on location to connect deeply with a location - sharing my favourite drawings and scenes from Sarasota.
The carousel format comprises a selection of camera videos with handwritten text on top - here are screenshots of the cover images.
Another carousel post featuring professional camera videos alongside illustrations and animations for every location - sharing my favourite locations in a creative and engaging format.
CONTENT 2
REELS
The final pieces of content involve two reels. One featuring a selection of my sketchbook drawings on location and the other being a narrative-driven more educational voiceover video, sharing the process of drawing at The Ringling Museum of Art.
View the reels below…
PHOTOGRAPHY
Captured on a Sony A7III camera.
Destination Visual Storytelling - The Possibilities
Who is destination visual storytelling for?
1
This approach is designed for tourism boards, destination marketing organisations, luxury hotels and resorts, cultural and heritage sites, travel brands and unique properties looking for a more personal, creative and considered way to communicate a place.
Projects can document a destination, hotel or property, as well as new openings, renovations, rebrands, seasonal experiences and significant moments in a property’s story.
What does a project involve?
2
Each project is built around first-hand experience and observation. I combine reportage illustration, on-location drawing, writing, interviews, photography and film to document the places, people, architecture, culture and experiences that represent an authentic insight into the destination.
My background as a published author and illustrator allows me to bring visual and written storytelling together, creating a body of work that feels immersive and engaging rather than purely promotional.
A single destination residency can generate a versatile collection of bespoke visual assets, depending on the brief.
These can include: original illustrations, photography, film, written stories, social content, editorial features, campaign imagery, publications, animated illustrations, guest materials, guide-books, illustrated maps, trade-event assets and merchandise.
Illustrations can be hand animated or combined with cinematography to create short-form digital content.
The artwork can be licensed for agreed physical and digital uses, allowing a project to continue working for the client beyond the original campaign.
3
What assets can be created from a project?
Can you document a hotel or property?
4
Yes, I can create a visual story around architecture, interiors, gardens, dining experiences, craftsmanship, staff, local culture and the guest experience.
This can be particularly effective for hotel openings, renovations, restorations and rebrands, creating an illustrated record of the property at an important moment in its history as well as a creative body of marketing assets.
Can you document the guest experience?
5
Absolutely. Rather than only documenting the property itself, I can experience and illustrate what it feels like to be there - from arrival and the architecture to dining, cultural experiences, staff and the quieter details of a stay.
Projects can also incorporate live drawing workshops and participatory experiences, inviting guests or VIPs to become part of the creative process.
Why use illustration alongside photography and film?
6
Illustration offers a different way of seeing and experiencing a place.
While photography and film document a destination, drawing allows me to slow down, deeply observe and encapsulate my experience into the artwork. I am also able to interpret, select and emphasise details that make an experience unique - from the character of an interior to a craftsperson at work or the atmosphere of a particular moment.
The three formats can work together to create a richer visual identity, combining the immediacy of photography and film with the tactile, emotion and depth of hand-drawn illustration.
How are projects structured?
7
Projects can range from a single-day event or opening to a multi-day destination residency.
Before beginning, I work with the client to establish the creative direction, locations, people and experiences to document, the final deliverables and how the resulting artwork will be used. The scope can be tailored around the story the clients want to tell.
Can a project develop into a larger publication or licensing project?
8
Absolutely. A longer-term project can develop into an illustrated journal, destination publication, property monograph or editorial series that brings together illustration, journalism, writing and photography.
Individual illustrations can also be licensed for marketing, print, editorial, guest materials, trade events, merchandise, prints, stationery, packaging and other physical or digital applications, depending on the agreed usage.
Have a destination, property or experience to share?
Let’s create a new perspective on it.