The Origin of the Iconic Poster Series

The Iconic Poster series began long before I knew I would become a designer.

My father worked for the government establishing schools in small rural villages deep in the Sierra Madre of Sonora, Mexico. He would go door to door recruiting students, sometimes in communities where Indigenous languages were spoken more often than Spanish. He would build a one-room school, teach there for a few years, train another teacher, and then we would move on to the next village and begin again.

My childhood was nomadic. We were always the new family in a new place.

I was observant, and I liked to draw. Drawing became my refuge, the one constant. With sticks on the ground, I drew houses, people, mountains, dogs, chickens, cows, trees, roads, and flowers. I drew what I saw around me and then stood there looking at the finished image, getting lost in the details. The dry desert wind would erase those drawings, but not from my memory.

Without knowing it, I was already doing what I still do now: trying to understand a place through its visual language. I saw the world in images, colors, symbols, and icons. I was cataloging each place so I would not forget it.

The Iconic Poster series is the continuation of that childhood impulse. Each poster is an homage to place, built one icon at a time.

Why Florida

Florida was a natural subject for the series. Few places are as visually abundant or as culturally layered. Its coastlines, wildlife, springs, cities, highways, palms, museums, public art, colleges, beaches, boats, heritage sites, and roadside oddities create a landscape unlike anywhere else in the country.

The Iconic Florida Poster brings together more than 600 icons that reflect the many identities of the state, from architectural landmarks and maritime life to places of worship, civic institutions, natural wonders, and local symbols. It is both map and portrait: a way of seeing Florida through its density, contradictions, beauty, and character.

Building the Map

The poster took more than a year to create. It began with visits, observation, and extensive research into what makes Florida distinctly Florida. Each icon was then drawn in a direct, simple way, guided by clarity, memory, and affection for the place.

Once completed, the icons were carefully arranged across the map, with major landmarks shown at a larger scale and more everyday elements placed throughout at a smaller size. Together they form a visual mosaic, a portrait of interconnection, variety, and place.

Around the border, a selected legend identifies many of the poster’s key icons by name, inviting viewers to slow down, look closely, and discover Florida piece by piece. The complete icon index expands that experience even further.

Recognition

In 2024, the Iconic Florida Poster entered the historical collections of the Tampa Bay History Center.

This poster is an invitation to travel through looking, to wander through detail, and to rediscover the spirit of a place through drawing.

Explore the complete Iconic Florida icon index.

The Iconic Florida Poster is available through Alfalfa New York.