One format. Built entirely around you.

A local guidethat could onlybe yours.

In any city, Rubric brings your brand, place and audience together in a physical guide made to be used, changed and kept.

A Mirador Hotel guide with illustrated hotel-history and Golden Gate Bridge activity spreads

Designed to travel

Light in the hand.
Rich on the page.

A tactile, flexible paper guide with a soft printed cover and saddle-stitched construction. Easy to carry through a city. Substantial enough to keep.

Soft, flexible paper format
Illustrated throughout
Built for writing and drawing
Created in English or any language you need
Print-ready or fully produced
Flexible guide open to colorful games and discovery pages

A complete experience arc

From hello
to “remember when?”

We develop the editorial structure, write the content, art-direct the illustration and design every interaction.

01

A branded beginning

A welcome from your place, your story, your architecture and a child-friendly introduction to the city.

02

A mental map

Neighborhoods, transport, local language and the small rituals that make the place feel legible.

03

Stories with context

History told through people, change, objects and illustrated timelines, not a wall of dates.

04

Places worth noticing

Landmarks and overlooked details, each paired with something to find, consider, sketch or do.

05

Play with a purpose

Scavenger hunts, maps, puzzles, food discoveries and observational games grounded in the destination.

06

A personal ending

Journal prompts, favorites, drawings, collected ephemera and a final page that belongs entirely to the traveler.

Not a template

Five layers
make it yours.

The Mirador Hotel identity, history and San Francisco neighborhood map integrated into one guide
01

Identity

Palette, typography, visual motifs and co-branding architecture.

02

Story

Your origin, point of view, people, building and relationship to the place.

03

Local world

The city research, routes, landmarks and neighborhood around you.

04

Audience

Age, guest profile, tone, reading level and language, including multilingual editions.

05

Delivery

Print-ready files or fully produced guides, prepared for the way you distribute them.

Creative range

One product.
Different worlds.

Paris, San Diego and Kyoto are only examples. We can create for any city, with art direction that is painterly, graphic, archival, cinematic, contemporary or playful.

Paris guide using cut-paper collage
Cut-paper collage Paris
San Diego guide using screenprint illustration
Sun-faded screenprint San Diego
Kyoto guide using contemporary woodblock illustration
Contemporary woodblock Kyoto

A clear collaborative process

From your place
to theirs.

Editorial research and design process for a custom guide
01

Listen

We learn the brand, audience, property, context and job the guide needs to do.

02

Research

We map the city, verify its stories and find the details worth noticing.

03

Create

Writing, illustration, activities and visual identity come together as one edition.

04

Review

You see and shape the work through a clear editorial approval process.

05

Deliver

Receive production-ready artwork or finished guides ready to place in people’s hands.

The practical details

Questions,
answered.

From one property to a global portfolio, every edition begins with the same thing: understanding what the guide needs to do.

01

What exactly does Rubric create?

We create custom illustrated city guides that carry your brand and help the people you welcome explore. Each guide combines useful local context, stories, landmarks, missions, games and spaces for writing or drawing, so it becomes both a companion during the trip and a keepsake afterward.

02

Can you create a guide for any city?

Yes. We can create an edition for any city or destination. We research the place from the ground up, then shape the content around your location, point of view and audience rather than relying on a fixed library of cities.

03

Who are the guides for?

Rubric works with hotels, resorts, destination brands, museums, cruise lines and other organizations that welcome travelers. The guides are especially effective for families, but the tone, complexity and activities can be adapted for different age groups and guest profiles.

04

Is this a generic guide with our logo added?

No. Your identity shapes the entire edition, including the cover, palette, typography, illustration direction, editorial voice, welcome, routes, stories and activities. The goal is a guide that feels authored by your brand and could not belong to anyone else.

05

What kinds of content can the guide include?

Possible content includes city history, neighborhood introductions, landmarks, local customs, food discoveries, illustrated maps, observation missions, scavenger hunts, puzzles, drawing prompts, journal pages and space for personal memories. We choose the mix that best fits the destination and audience.

06

Do all guides follow the same structure or page count?

No. The structure and length are developed around the project. A guide can be compact and focused or support a broader journey through a city. Content modules are selected, combined and paced to create the right experience rather than to fill a predetermined template.

07

Can the visual style match our brand?

Yes. Illustration can be painterly, graphic, archival, contemporary, playful, cinematic or something developed specifically for you. We use your existing identity as a starting point and build an art direction that feels coherent with it.

08

Can guides be created in languages other than English?

Yes. A guide can be created in English or any language your audience needs, including multilingual editions. Translation, localization and production requirements are defined with you during scoping.

09

Can the content work for different ages?

Yes. Reading level, density, tone, game difficulty and the balance between writing, drawing and discovery can all be adjusted. We can design for younger children, older children, curious teens, mixed-age families or a broader adult audience.

10

How does the process work?

We begin by learning about your brand, audience, location and goals. Then we research the city, define the editorial concept, write and illustrate the guide, design the interactions, review the work with you and prepare the finished edition for production.

11

How long does a project take?

Timing depends on the amount of content, research, languages, illustration approach, review process and production method. After an initial conversation, we provide a clear schedule with milestones for concept, content, design, approvals and delivery.

12

Will we see the guide before it is produced?

Yes. The process includes clear review stages for the concept, content, visual direction and designed pages. Your team can consolidate feedback and approve the edition before final artwork or physical production begins.

13

Do you handle printing and production?

We can deliver print-ready artwork for your preferred production partner or coordinate fully produced guides. Format, paper, finishing, quantity, packaging and delivery are scoped around how and where you plan to distribute them.

14

Is there a minimum order?

Minimum quantities depend on the selected printing and production method. We can discuss a suitable route for a pilot, a single property, a seasonal edition or a larger multi-location program.

15

Can one guide be adapted across several properties or cities?

Yes. We can create a shared system for a group or portfolio while giving each property or city its own stories, landmarks, activities and visual character. The result can feel connected at brand level without making every edition feel identical.

16

How can the guides be distributed?

They can be offered as a welcome gift, included in a family package, placed in rooms, sold in a hotel or museum shop, used by a concierge team, mailed before arrival or incorporated into a loyalty or destination program.

17

How is pricing determined?

Pricing reflects the editorial scope, research, writing, illustration, languages, number of editions, review requirements and whether you need print-ready files or finished guides. We provide a tailored proposal once the intended experience and rollout are clear.

18

Who owns the final work?

Usage, licensing and ownership are set out clearly in the project proposal. The terms can account for the intended print quantity, markets, languages, duration and whether the work will extend across multiple locations or future editions.

19

Can we update or reprint the guide later?

Yes. We can prepare reprints, refresh details that have changed, create seasonal variations, add a language, develop a new city or expand the original concept into a broader series.

20

How do we get started?

Tell us about your brand, city, audience and what you want the guide to accomplish. We will use that context to prepare for a focused introductory conversation and discuss an appropriate first concept.

Start with something tangible

We’ll create sample pages for your brand.

Tell us about the place, audience and feeling you want to create. We’ll turn it into a focused first conversation.

Get in touch