Posted March 09, 2017 12:18:55

Twenty-seven years ago Melinda Clarke published the iconic hand-drawn Melbourne Map and now she's making a new one.

Ms Clarke had no experience in map making or illustration, but while backpacking in the 1980s she came across beautiful hand-drawn maps of cities overseas.

On her return to Australia she discovered Melbourne lacked a detailed illustrated map.

"So I started to make one," she said.

Photo: In the '80s Melinda Clarke travelled over Melbourne by hot air balloon, taking photos for the project. (Supplied: Melinda Clarke)

"I had no idea how to do that. I talked to a couple of artists and I finally met a lady named Deborah Young who drew an invitation for a friend's birthday party."

The pair then got to work taking photos of Melbourne, many of which were taken from a hot air balloon.

"We approached the fellow that flew the hot air balloon over Melbourne; there was only one at that time," Ms Clarke told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"He would ring me at four or five in the morning and say, 'we've got a spare spot, come along on the balloon'."

After taking 7,500 photos from the air and the ground, Ms Clarke pieced the images together to make a comprehensive aerial view of Melbourne.

Photo: Even the cars and trams in the streets were documented in the original Melbourne Map. (Supplied: Melinda Clarke)

She and Ms Young then spent the next two years working on drawing the map in Ms Clarke's mother's garage.

Little did they know that their hand-drawn map would end up in galleries, libraries, schools and homes right across Victoria.

"It just brings so much to people and they have great memories of it and it inspired me to try and do it again," Ms Clarke said.

Photo: Folders containing some of the 7,500 photos taken to document Melbourne in the 1980s. (Supplied: Melinda Clarke)

Melbourne has drastically changed since the original map was drawn 27 years ago, so Ms Clarke decided it was time to recruit a team to draw a new one.

Now, despite having access to digital photography and the internet, Ms Clarke insisted: "We don't just jump on Google Maps.

"We have to drive around every single street; you want to get a feeling for the buildings, to see what should be on the map."

Eight months into the project, Ms Clarke has launched a crowdfunding campaign to ensure the map is completed by the end of the year.

Topics: history, photography, travel-and-tourism, community-and-society, human-interest, melbourne-3000