I’ve been sworn to absolute secrecy on this project since mid-January, so I’m very excited to finally share it. Early today, Field Notes (the purveyor of beautiful memo and note books) released their latest quarterly limited edition, “Mile Marker,” with cover designs celebrating the Interstate Highway system. Included with subscriptions – and available for separate purchase on the Field Notes website – is an old-school foldable highway map, designed by me in collaboration with the Field Notes team.

Although this “Mile Marker” map is inspired by my older “Highways of the USA” map, almost everything has been completely redrawn and re-evaluated – with thicker route line weights for the smaller print size, new labelling set in all-caps Futura Bold to match the Field Notes house style, and new icons for highway route number designations. This map shows all two-digit Interstate highways as well as the “major” U.S. Numbered Highways (those ending in “0” or “1”, as defined by AASHTO*) in thinner grey lines. This struck a good balance between simplicity and complexity while allowing the map to retain its distinctive bold graphic style.

As well as the folded map, there’s also a limited number of “suitable for framing” flat press-check prints available for purchase on the Field Notes site. A true limited edition – once these are gone, there are no more!

I have to say, one of the best parts of this project was finally getting to collaborate with Jim Coudal, who has always been an amazing supporter of my work. He was the very first person to draw attention to my original “Interstates as Subway Map” poster way back in 2009, and has kept an eye on my output ever since. He had a vision for this map that I knew I could achieve, and we both worked towards that goal – the project was an absolute blast to bring to life!

*Note: U.S. 2 is considered as a “major” route, as it is the northernmost east-west U.S. Highway (there is no Highway “0”).