London Stories: The Blitz

Recently there has been the Serco Prize for Illustration which is a yearly competition by the corporation that runs Transport for London. The winning illustration is displayed on a London Transport Museum poster which, for any city lover, is an honour for this is the oldest underground network in the world. Unfortunately, I didn't win but here's my submission. 

This year's theme was London Stories. Participants where encouraged to produce a vision of London inspired by fictional or historical narratives set in London throughout its long history. In my case, the main inspiration is a fascinating photo taken during one of Nazi Germany bombings in World War II in December 1940, more commonly known as The Blitz. The image shows St Paul's Cathedral dome still standing behind a massive smoke column while London is ablaze.

Thanks to the lives of many firefighters, St Paul's survived more than 50 days of consecutive bombing and still stands today as a symbol of British endurance in a war that back then must have seemed impossible to win. The fear of a Nazi invasion of Britain was very likely at a time when much of the European continent was under the grip of fascist governments. London Underground played a major part in this story not only in guaranteeing commuters getting to work during the war but in setting up improvised air raid shelters in its underground stations. 

Thus this illustration shows a busy London running under the shelter of St Paul's Cathedral encouraging its people to keep calm and carry on. 

Further down there's the poster version I submitted to the competition without the explosions – to make it more palatable. Could all these bombs falling from the sky and the overall Dantesque look have put the jury off?

Secret London

I'm glad that last week I managed to submit my entry to the Secret London competition run by Serco and the AOI. Illustrating hidden aspects of the capital immediately appealed me and spent long time thinking about which part of London to focus on, finally deciding to do it on an area I know well, the East End.

An aspect of London that keeps surprising me is the amazing streets and squares that remain tucked away off main roads, that seem to be only for the locals' pleasure as someone non-familiar with the area would hardly venture off the high street unless I imagine to see a friend... In my case, a bike opened me this world that makes quite a contrast with my hometown Barcelona, where shops and bars are scattered about so it's easy to find oneself looking around deep parts of the district.

This illustration is a mind map of the East End as it is in my head after 3 years living and cycling about in Tower Hamlets. Stepney then, is in the centre of the map and around it different aspects of life in the area, covering past and present and focusing on culture, people and food. The colours in the background are those of the Underground lines that serve the area, mainly the Overground, DLR and the District and Central lines. Blue in the middle shows the area of influence of a bike with which one can go anywhere and is the healthier and greener way to enjoy the hidden gems of this rich and not so much known part of London.