Plan your personalised map: places, layout and colour

A personalised map starts with the places you want to remember. A family home, a move abroad and a favourite journey can all belong in the same story, but they do not always need the same layout. Start with a place list, then choose a design that gives those details enough space.

This guide compares eight examples, from a single country with location markers to five countries in one artwork. The photographs below are the original product listing images. Their names, dates, countries and surroundings are examples to help you compare the designs.

1. Write the place list before choosing a layout

Put each country beside its related town or city on a separate line. Check the spelling, then decide which places matter most to the story. Two towns within one country may suit a single-country design with location markers; a family spread across several countries may need several map outlines.

Keep your personal details in a separate note so that example names or dates do not get copied into your order. If you are preparing a gift, confirm unfamiliar place names with someone who knows them. Read the chosen product's personalisation fields before submitting the final list.

2. Give a longer journey room to unfold

For five countries, a landscape composition offers a broad space for the separate maps and their connecting route. The example below brings five colourful country outlines together with an aeroplane line. Before ordering, number your five countries and related cities in the order you want to provide them.

Personalised Five-Country Map Print

A three-country portrait design offers a different shape for a narrower wall. In this example, the maps run down the page with looping aeroplane lines between them. Compare the whole rectangle with your available wall space, including the frame and any mount you plan to use.

Personalised Three-Country Portrait Map Print with Plane Line

Cut paper to the dimensions you are considering and try it in place. Look from the doorway and from your usual seat. This helps you judge whether a portrait or landscape arrangement gives your chosen spot a comfortable amount of space.

3. Compare the palette as well as the number of maps

Coordinated colours can give several country shapes a shared visual rhythm. The three-country example uses warm tones, while the two-country example uses blues. These photographs show particular colour choices; use the current listing examples and available options to choose your own version.

Personalised Three-Country Map Print with Coordinated Colours

Personalised Two-Country Map Print with Coordinated Colours

Compare the example with the colours already near the intended display spot. If a nearby curtain or wallpaper has a busy pattern, a little clear wall around the artwork can help the map outlines and small labels stand out. Check it in daylight and under the lamps you normally use.

4. Look closely at marble-effect texture

Marble-effect maps add veins and tonal variation inside the country outlines. That changes how the shapes read, even when the number of maps stays the same. Compare the softer pink example with the darker black, grey and cream treatment below. Both show two maps joined by a fine heart line.

Personalised Two-Country Marble Map Print with Custom Line

Personalised Two-Country Dark Marble Map Print with Custom Line

Choose by the appearance you want to live with, then check the actual colour option on the product page. “Marble effect” describes the printed design: it does not mean the artwork is made from stone. Read the selected size and format carefully before ordering.

5. Keep two local memories inside one country

If the important places are within one country or state, a portrait map with one or two heart-marked locations can keep them together. A place you met and a place you now call home might fit this approach. The dark France example and light Great Britain example show how the same general idea looks with different textures and lettering.

Personalised Country Map Print in Dark Marble Effect

Personalised Country Map Print in Light Marble Effect

Check that each location name belongs to the country or state you have entered. Where the design offers optional names, a title or a message, read that wording alongside the map labels. Short, deliberate text is easier to check than several competing messages.

Your final personalisation check

• Country or state names and related towns or cities are spelled correctly.
• The number of places matches the chosen design.
• Names, dates and any optional message are your own details, with punctuation checked.
• The selected size and portrait or landscape layout suit the measured space.
• The chosen format matches what you want to receive.

Frames and decorative props in listing photographs are illustrative unless the selected option says otherwise. Physical prints and explicitly labelled digital-file options are different formats; check the product page for the available choices. For current delivery estimates, see our shipping information. You can compare these designs in the personalised maps collection.