Interview with Le Periplo - The most original travel guides
Flor (@ssandinmyshoes ) and Sandra ( @sandrallopart ) are the creators of Le Periplo, unique travel guides that invite you to experience and live the cities from a very special perspective, moving away from the typical tourist perspective to give prominence to the senses and focusing on the lifestyle of each place.
Le Periplo is the perfect combination between design and experience of the place.
Graphic design, photography and artistic sensitivity come together to also provide super valuable information based on the first-person experience of each recommendation. Something that is valued, and very much!
From Bryan, we have the opportunity to learn more about this project and, also, its creators.
Q.- How did the idea of joining forces and giving shape to this project come about?
A.- Well, through one of the most powerful social networks today, which is Instagram. We got in touch because of the travel photos that Flor posted, and we thought we could do something really functional beyond a souvenir photo album. So we started our remote meetings through Skype, Madrid - Barcelona connection, and we were configuring, through several brainstorms, and our personal tastes when traveling, what Le Periplo would be.
"...we were missing telling the cities in a more personal, more inspirational way and more aware of the moment that that city is experiencing."
The idea of creating a travel guide that moved away from those we already know was, above all, because we missed telling about the cities in a more personal, more inspirational way and more aware of the moment that that city is experiencing. We had also observed that on social networks more and more people were begging for tips before taking a trip. There we saw a point to take into account and that the guides offered that most innovative point of covering a need, in addition to providing a different vision of traveling, as everything is based on a route where the different recommendations occur as they are. the city is established.
When we travel, and we create a route to get to know the city always on foot or by bicycle, we find and alternate different enclaves that make it an attraction in every sense and that you not only want to keep in the memory of your retina: a cafeteria, a concept store where you can meet local entrepreneurs and artists, a monument that coexists with a restaurant with an exquisite menu, a unique identity or interior design, a street or an aesthetically photographable location,...
"Another important value in Le Periplo is that we try to talk about lesser-known cities, not so crowded, or cities like the case of Amsterdam, which have a second side;"
There is a section that is especially dedicated to the city from a cultural, seasonal, and gastronomic point of view with curiosities that we believe are interesting and that should be known in order to feel even more part of the destination. It is very important to understand the idiosyncrasies because that is what gives personal wealth after a trip.
Another important value in Le Periplo is that we try to talk about lesser-known cities, not so crowded, or that are cities like the case of Amsterdam, which have a second side which is what we tell in our guide. “As we say, we advocate for small, big cities.”
So with these values, we were building the editorial design in which photography, graphic design, with many aesthetic resources, coexisted in the same hierarchy as the content and was a collector's item, but without ceasing to be a practical and functional when traveling.
Q.- Is all the content that we can find in the guides generated by you?
We are especially excited to have this interview since our new collection: The Living city, talks about experiencing the city through the senses, making it your own, building experiences in it and projecting the values with which you want to live.
A.- All the guides made so far , Brighton, Amsterdam, Porto, Aveiro (which is a supplement to Porto), La Rochelle, Iceland, and another 3 guides on the way, are destinations that we know very well, and therefore everything The content and even the photography is 95% ours, except for some that are covered by copyright of a restaurant that we could not photograph, but we could try. All tips are tested by us.
Following your philosophy, each trip is not only marked by the place but also by the experiences lived there.
Q.- Can you tell us any notable anecdotes from any of those trips? One of those unforgettable ones (and it's not in the guide!)
A.- On one of our trips, more specifically the one to Iceland, we met a very nice Canadian couple. Years later, we flew to Vancouver to get to know this wonderful city a little more. Well, walking through downtown, we met them again and we recognized each other! As many would say, the world is a handkerchief!
Q.- Any city that has resisted you and for which you have preferred not to make a guide? Because?
A.- Well, we have a route through northern Italy, and we didn't know whether to present it in parts or do the complete route, so we have it pending because it is a little scary to cover it since it is a specific route and more two weeks... With Iceland and the one that is on the way this month, Croatia, they are the only route guides.
Croatia has been 3 months of work because several cities are counted within the route as if they were a single guide. You'll see how big it is!
Q.- Apart from the guides, we can also find illustrated posters of each city. Do you have in mind to prepare other articles? And if you can give us some clue what it is about... even better! :)
Your work has a lot of Branding development behind it, not only because you have achieved a very recognizable brand image in Le Periplo, but because each city has its own identity.
A.- Yes, that's right, what we told you at the beginning, aesthetics and identity are very present, we want that when seen individually, it relates to the entire imaginary created in Le Periplo. Yes, we have created elements that accompany the guides and wink at the concept of traveling. Each guide is sent with a postcard, like the usual ones, we wanted to reconnect with the fact of sending souvenir postcards to friends and family. A month ago we also began sending bookmarks in “boarding pass” format of the purchased guide, another nod to the act of traveling.
The illustrations are a complement that we launched last December, as a souvenir that you acquire on a trip, as we have all done at some time, buy an illustrated sheet or poster, but in this case an illustration that summarizes everything that is told in the guide. Within each guide there are some illustrations and that's where the posters came from, but they are illustrations that are not found in the guides.
" The values that Le Periplo promotes when traveling are doing so in a sustainable, aware and promoting local way."
And what is coming soon is another complement, also related to the aesthetics of each guide and supporting, above all, the values that Le Periplo promotes when traveling, which is to travel in a sustainable, aware and promoting local way. But stay tuned, it will be launched in February, and we hope you like it a lot!
Q.- What inspires you to give image and content to each place?
A.- Actually it is the city that inspires us to tell it. We travel letting ourselves go, enjoying as if Le Periplo did not exist, and then we simply deposit the different experiences in the different designed layouts. The colors of the guides are determined somewhat by the color palette provided by the photographs.
Q.- New cities in mind that can be counted?
A.- Hehe! We prefer to reveal only Croatia for now, but some more are coming and they are very interesting!
Q.- The three required questions (to be answered separately):
A.- Sandra
A woman who inspires you. There are many women who have inspired me throughout my life. Verónica Fuerte, Ingrid Picanyol, Vanessa Eckstein, Marta Cutler, Jessica Walsh, Malika Favre and Camille Walala. But above all, my mother, my grandmother and my friends are the people I admire the most.
Your Guilty pleasure/s Without a doubt. Nutella!
If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be? Bon Iver, 2011.
Potato omelet with or without onion? Omelette with onion.
A.-Flower
A woman who inspires you. Not only do I have one woman, and they are not known women either, but today all the women who are in my life, in my day to day life, are friends and women who inspire me, they all inspire me with different nuances to be a better person, to sometimes rethink patterns entrenched in me. The list is long, but not endless... Shall I list them? Ha ha
Your Guilty pleasure/s. French fries hehe I would eat that alone.
If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be? Could it be a compilation? Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
Potato omelet with or without onion? WITHOUT.
