Have you ever been in an unfamiliar city armed with your map, only to spend half the time trying to work out how to fold it back up/looking for flat surfaces to spread it out on/generally fighting with it?

Well take a look at this brilliant idea by Milan-based designer Emanuele Pizzolorusso and cast aside map stress forever. We can't believe we haven't seen this done before.

Pizzolorusso's double-sided Crumpled Maps are printed on 42gsm Dupont Tyvek; meaning they're soft, yet hard-wearing (showerproof!) and meant to be creased and crumpled. You can place the area that you’re interested in on the palm of your hand to spot street names then just screw it up, stuff it back into its case or your pocket, and carry on.

"This work is the outcome of a simple observation I made during a recent excursion." says Pizzolorusso of his design.

"When using traditional large-scale city maps, I realised just how awkward they can be to use. They are not easy to use on the move, as you need to stop regularly and spread the map out to find what you are looking for. It is also very difficult to open and fold the map back up to its initial upright size. The end result being that you aim to use the maps as little as possible".

We could see ourselves using one of these for sure.

Photography: Andrea Poggesi