Illustrated map of Poltava for the “Zmist” portal

An interactive tourist-historical map of Poltava for the “Zmist” media platform — a digital guide that turns a walk through the historic centre into a discovery. Instead of a dry satellite map, a hand-drawn artistic 2D portrait of the city.

Client

The “Zmist” media platform

Service

Illustration & interactive map design

PROBLEM

Google Maps shows streets but tells no stories. To draw young people and tourists to the city, “Zmist” needed not addresses but a living image of Poltava — one that instantly shows where to go and why it’s worth seeing.

SOLUTION

We created a custom artistic 2D map of the historic centre with a recognisable illustrative style. Landmarks and architecture — St Spas Church, the Assumption Cathedral, monuments and the old City Garden — are hand-drawn as detailed icons. Every object is interactive: a click opens a historical note, archival and modern photos, and intriguing facts that reveal the city’s identity.

RESULT

The map works as a free virtual guide and makes Poltava’s heritage accessible and visually appealing. It popularises culture, fuels domestic tourism and vividly captures the city’s spatial structure — its classicism and baroque. A local digital product where illustration and design directly help preserve and present a city’s history.