The Yuppie Gift Guide, Day 9: Map Art

If you're looking for a holiday gift for someone who recently moved into a new home, you can kill two birds with one stone by getting them a combination Christmas + Housewarming gift. Whimsical and typographic maps have been catching my attention lately and I am always on the lookout for ways to decorate my walls with pieces that are also functional. Here are some of my favorites.

| 1. Drywell "Seattle Eats Local" poster ($25) | This is the second piece in the "Meat My City" poster series by local artist and meat-lover Alyson Thomas, who specializes in cute butchery diagrams. A copy of the first piece in the series, "San Francisco is for Carnivores", hangs in my dining room.

| 2. Jim Datz "Manhattan" poster ($60) | If I lived in Manhattan, I would totally get this poster. I love everything about it, from the delicate little swirls at the top of the lamp post, to the typography, to the funny little illustrated guy on the bottom. The London version is great too, as are all the illustrations on Jim Datz's blog.

| 3. Bombus Heart Map (about $60) | The heart shape makes this a little less functional but I still like the concept. This would also be a nice and easy DIY gift—find a cool map, cut out a heart, mount it on some archival paper, and frame it in a simple gallery frame.

| 4. Ork Posters "San Francisco" poster ($22) | I've found that having this poster hanging in my living room has been very useful; not only does it always seem to be a conversation piece when guests come over, but it's what I studied to get acquainted with the layout of this city when we first moved here. If you're shopping for someone who doesn't live in a major city, this Heart poster is awesome, too.