A brief history of banana maps

As banana maps gain in popularity (at least in my imagination), I thought it would be fun to put together a post tracing their origins and trajectory. Note that this is an incomplete history—as seen through my eyes—and I have a hunch this post reflects the infancy of banana mapping.

The first known banana map can be traced back to Phil Francis who enrolled in my 1st ever Skillshare class Map Making: Learn to communicate places beautifully. The class was launched as a 2 week course in 2013, and as of 2021 it’s still going strong. Its welcomed map makers around the world, many who don’t even identify as creatives or artists, just map lovers. The low budget course filmed with the camera on my MacBook walks students through a few exercises to unlock their creative juices.

The first mini exercise was a hand drawn map inspired by maps my dad used to draw for me before the days of GPS and smartphones. (They were always more effective and memorable than MapQuest too.) There weren’t many constraints to the assignment, but rather it was an invitation to students to draw a simple map with pen and paper.

You can imagine the surprise and delight when Phil uploaded his map on a banana! Along with the photo that caught all of our eyes he wrote, “This is my hand drawn map of my journey to work; drawn on a banana. It is inspired by linear maps and your average train route map. I've tried to annotate the map with the things of interest along the way, and also the timings (minutes from home) and the transport mode. Why the banana? Well simply I had it to hand (I was on my commute) and I've always loved the way a biro writes onto banana skin - if you haven't tried it I highly recommend it! :)”

It was through this class I started to see the power of maps to surprise and delight, and bring together a community in a way that I wasn’t ever able to recreate until launching Mapping Your Path, my 3-month workshop and guided community in fall of 2020. I took this map loving intel into lockdown when Tina Roth Eisenberg (aka @swissmiss and founder of CreativeMornings) asked me if I’d be game to host a CreativeMornings [virtual FieldTrip] in April 2020. I said yes, and decided to return to what I know brings people joy—maps.

She told me I could have fun with it, to which I responded, I was going to ask people to bring bananas and map on them. I’m not sure if she was skeptical, but she and the entire CM team showed up to my workshop, LOVED IT, and from that moment the world of banana mapping was changed. It also changed my trajectory towards workshop facilitation, for which I’m eternally grateful. (I’ve also received notes that the experience of mapping on bananas changed their life!).

During that first FieldTrip it only seemed appropriate to have people draw their Covid commute on a banana to help us create an ephemeral souvenir of lockdown, and maybe be able to laugh or smile in a strange situation. (I hosted the FieldTrip from my hallway floor where I was connected to the ethernet to ensure a good connection. We had very strict lockdown in Paris, and my commute was about 22 steps, although I host my online workshops from a cushion on the floor in my “workshop nook” I created.)

And sometimes people don’t have (or like) bananas. For me bananas is an all-inclusive term that can also be applied to lemons, oranges, clementines, toilet paper tubes. I love being surprised by all the variations of “banana maps” which have gone on to include sweet potatoes, eggs, papaya, onions, leaks, and more! So much JOY! All I say is something untraditional. (The benefit of a banana or anything with a peel is that you can still eat your work of art when all is said and done.).

Who knew that one day a Forbes journalist would show up in one of my CreativeMornings workshops and the write a feature on me called “Draw your own map to success.” It’s not always easy to explain the work I do, but the fact that the author (Janine Maclachlan) had experienced drawing a map on a banana really helped her capture it.

From there I’ve taken banana maps into so many of my other workshops, as I work with school groups, corporate teams, and my own workshops/programs. Banana maps are a way to slow down, share stories, pause, reflect, and get out of your head and onto something out of the ordinary. People often comment on the 3D surface, and like Phil love the feel of a Bic pen on the surface. During in person workshops, I often see groups collectively “in the zone” as they map on bananas.

The downside to banana maps is they don’t last forever (I do recommend photographing and documenting them!). The upside is that they are a way to remove perfectionist tendencies. It can feel silly to map on a banana, but maybe that’s the point—to not take everything so seriously sometimes. You never know what you may unlock in the process!

Trust me, I’ve seen the magic of banana maps first hand.

If you’re interested in banana maps, give it a go! You can also keep an eye on CreativeMorning FieldTrips to see if I’m running a free Make a Map! FieldTrip. I also semi-regularly share one of my own banana maps on Instagram at @pretavoyager. In every round of Mapping Your Path, my 3-month workshop + guided community I open three times a year you can count on there being at least one banana map! Also, I love bringing banana maps to groups, companies, and teams—both online and IRL! Shoot me an email to see how we can work together.