Very Expensive Maps

Neil Allen: “Making a map in isolation is never a good idea.” Oct 24, 2024

Oregon lead cartographer and product manager Neil Allen talks atlas production with East View Geospatial’s Benchmark Maps, the years of mapmaking and months of ground-truthing required to create a Texas atlas, adventures in custom cartography (clients include the U.S. Coast Guard, The Cascadia Institute and an eccentric millionaire’s treasure hunt), the importance of asking the locals, using declassified naval data to map Monterey Canyon, and why sales and marketing is essential to a map business. See his work at benchmarkmaps.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Hap Wilson: “If there’s no risk then there’s no adventure, right?” May 13, 2024

Ontario explorer, mapmaker, and conservationist Hap Wilson on drawing 400 guide maps across 50 years, traveling more than 40,000 miles of Canadian wilderness by canoe, the one digital tool he likes (it’s Google Earth), saving lives by creating a map that, unlike the one it replaced, did not send tourists over a waterfall, retracing thousand-year-old trails to prevent their effacement by dams and clearcuts, what you discover after 200 trips down the same river, learning from the mapmakers of 1700 and the indigenous of 700, and why if a portage on his map doesn’t match the territory it’s likely a force majeure situation (“I don’t control the beavers.”) See his work at hapwilson.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Erick Ingraham: “I guess I gravitate towards difficulty.” Apr 30, 2024

Colorado painter, illustrator and mapmaker Erick Ingraham on solving art directors’ problems, making it interesting for himself (“I’m known to make things more complicated than they might need to be”), spending eight years painting the Rockies’ western slope, working from his own photographs, taking inspiration from the past, getting into the culture of what he’s mapping, drawing coastlines, and some advice for developing artists: “Be a good draftsman.” See Erick’s work at erickingraham.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Stephen Walter: “Maps are inherently political if they’re interesting.” Feb 20, 2024

London artist and mapmaker Stephen Walter on two decades of drawing and painting “the semiotic residues of humankind,” an invitation to map an Ivorian national park (and why you should wait for the dry season before attempting this), approaching six years of work on an NYC map, interpreting Michael Drayton’s 17th c. topographical poem Poly-Olbion into a 6x5 ft. folkloric tour of England and Wales, walking the territory, the origins of “north up,” the souls of places, a half-day's research to place a single label, and his vision of Utopia. See his work at stephenwalter.org

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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John Tauranac: “I seldom think macroscopically; I think microscopically.” Dec 26, 2023

Manhattan writer and cartographer John Tauranac on his first maps of Midtown’s pedestrian passages, a public debate with Massimo Vignelli (“His geography was egregious”), working at a very different MTA (they used to have an aesthetics committee?), the “no improvements” made to the subway map since he chaired the 1979 MTA map committee, guiding Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s helicopter photo surveys of Manhattan, walking every block and learning Illustrator to create his acclaimed 176-page Manhattan tourist guide, how to make a usable bus map, New York’s vanished map stores, and a longitudinal view of the business: “plus ça change, plus c'est la même bull████.” See his work at johntauranac.com

Andrew Middleton: “There’s something poetic about running a map store.” Dec 12, 2023

In early 2023 GIS analyst and cartographer Andrew Middleton saw a tweet about Andy Nosal’s search for someone to take over The Map Center, Nosal's map shop in Pawtucket, RI; six months later Middleton left California to move into one of the last map retail stores in the U.S. We discuss his goal of turning the shop into an inviting retail space and field trip destination, inciting new maps of New England with cartographic challenges, making space for local and expressive maps, and summing it all up with “This is a thing I get to do with my life; how amazing is that?” Bonus: former owner Andy Nosal joins us to drop pearls of retail wisdom and confirm that Andrew has the “irrational drive in the right direction” needed for this biz. Next time you're in Pawtucket drop by mapcenter.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Lionel Portier: “What I'm trying to convey with my maps is the pleasure of seeing beautiful things.” Dec 04, 2023

Lyonnais illustrator and designer Lionel Portier on a mapmaking career that spans 30 years and five continents, accepting any map challenge an art director might conceive, a travel magazine gig that led to an Australian passport, painting 100 birds for a wetland park, his favorite territory to illustrate, spending three months on a 3x4-ft. map of Bruges, why he never carries a sketchbook on a walk, and conveying with his maps the “pleasure of seeing beautiful things.” See his work at lionelportier.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Isaac Dushku: “A map has to evoke a feeling of adventure or a feeling of home.” Nov 27, 2023

Utah artist Isaac Dushku on how a map has to evoke either a feeling of adventure or a feeling of home, the best- and worst-selling states in his catalog (he drew all 50), taking his business Lord of Maps from being ghosted on Facebook Marketplace to supporting his family, creating a board book of America’s highest peaks with a “ridiculously complicated” printing process, why your choice of labels will always upset someone, somewhere, and how if someone enjoys mountains these maps will “fit nicely into their heart.” See his work at lordofmaps.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Sam Usle: “Slowly but surely we’re starting to recover the built environment.” Nov 20, 2023

Urbanist and illustrator Sam Usle on designing human-scale communities and rendering them in watercolors, why theme parks reflect a yearning for human-scale towns, redesigning part of his high school campus before graduation, why you can thank Le Corbusier for hideous Revit-default cities, the axonometric map that sold Disneyland, storytelling with facades, the history of Rome’s urban fabric, why master planning begins with the negative space, and how “you'd be hard-pressed to find an ugly city before 1930.” See his work at studioredcar.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Naomi Rosenberg: "Get out of your sighted bubble.” Nov 13, 2023

Naomi Rosenberg, assistant director of the Media and Accessible Design Lab at San Francisco’s LightHouse for the Blind, discusses the art of making fingertip-readable maps: why clutter is the enemy of good tactile maps, the quest for an affordable embosser, being locked to 24 pt. type, creating large-scale accessible maps for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the OSM-filtering behind their Tactile Maps Automated Production software, why 3D-printed maps are (literally) painful for users, the barriers to high-res tactile displays, and how a good tactile designer needs to “forget about their eyes.”

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Matthew Dean Shaffer: “My approach is to try and be as accurate as possible.“ Oct 09, 2023

New Haven architectural designer and artist Matthew Dean Shaffer on balancing accuracy with art, taking a break from straight lines to draw birds, software-driven homogeneity in American architecture (“Straight-out-of-Revit, as we say”), why he draws the vegetation last, how anything’s better for the urban fabric than a surface parking lot, and sacrificing for one’s maps (he went cross-eyed for a day after a marathon drawing session).

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Jamshid Kooros: “These maps are based on walking, walking, walking.” Oct 02, 2023

Arlington “reformed architect” and pictorial cartographer Jamshid Kooros discusses his 30 years of mapmaking based on photographs, sketching and “walking, walking, walking,” the end of the drop-in pitch, turning three-week hikes into maps of French cities and castles, doing his own paper engineering for a pop-up map of Washington D.C., spending nine months on his Santa Fe map (which irked some locals), and being warned away from Civil War battlefield maps (“The buffs know every rock and tree and they will find a mistake.”) See his work at koorosmaps.com/welcome.html

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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David Kulbeth: “It's taken so long to get everything just right because there's no guidebook to this.” Sep 25, 2023

Stafford cartographer and entrepreneur David Kulbeth on reviving old map aesthetics with his digital-to-copperplate-to-print-to-watercolor technique, the (costly) difference between copperplate etching and engraving, finding a custom papermaker, keeping his art affordable, finding style inspiration in 12 moving boxes of cartography books, and making high-craft maps of “modern places in an antique style.” See his work at columbuscartography.com

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Sophie Parr: “I have to mathematically scale it, plan it, sketch it, draw it.” Sep 18, 2023

Fish Creek artist and gallery owner Sophie Parr on creating more than one hundred 0.5"-to-the-mile maps using aerial imagery and a 0.2mm-tip pen, why she only accepts 2x2" commissions (while working on her own 2x3 ft. map of Chicago), representing a variety of landscapes within the constraints of black ink, when returning a client’s deposit feels so good, why she won’t work in color, how discipline will get you farther than enthusiasm, curating other artists’ work to exhibit in her Door County gallery, and how often she hears “I have never seen anyone do something like this.” See her work at mapsbysophie.com

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Lee France: “It was fun to try to achieve those paper map elements in this new digital space.” Sep 11, 2023

Sandpoint cartographer Lee France on making his first topos in Chile, spending months on a single map for National Geographic Trails Illustrated, the challenge of making an attractive interactive map that includes every scale from hilltop to hemisphere, how an up-to-date cadastral layer can make or break your hunting map, how his team of technical cartographers at OnX maintains three discrete map products, and the high-stoke activities his users get up to. See his work at leefrance.me

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Gregor Turk: “I always focused on the map’s ability to simultaneously represent and distort reality.” Sep 04, 2023

Atlanta visual artist, sculptor and “topophiliac” Gregor Turk on walking 250 miles of the U.S./Canada border, creating landscapes with clay, wood and recycled inner tubes, turning Landsat imagery into hundreds of hand-painted ceramic tiles, making 1:1 scale maps, chasing phantom streets, fighting real estate developers’ efforts to erase Blandtown, confusing Beltline tourists with “misinformation” wayfinding maps, and “pushing the idea of what a map can be.” See his work at gregorturk.com

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF

Tom Patterson: “Right now is the golden age of cartography.” Aug 21, 2023

Leesburg cartographer Tom Patterson on his decades creating visitor maps for the National Park Service (there’s a good chance his work is crumpled in your glovebox), learning to draw terrain by corresponding with an artist in Scotland, why he doesn’t lament the passing of 70s-era production techniques, how to map a piedmont glacier using satellite imagery, convincing the Park Service to give away their map files (then making it happen himself during a rained-out vacation), why he releases his designs into the public domain, how “pretty map” used to be an insult, preferring modern maps over antiques, and how “right now is the golden age of cartography.” See his work at shadedrelief.com

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Melinda Clarke & Deborah Young Monk: “The beauty of the whole project is that we had no idea what we were doing.” Aug 15, 2023

St Leonards map producer/founder Melinda Clarke and Melbourne illustrator Deborah Young Monk discuss their collaborations across more than three decades, how to tell an artist they need to redraw three months of work, scouting territory by car, helicopter and hot air balloon, more than a week spent editing a 4x3 ft. map with a scalpel, selling maps door-to-door out of a suitcase, a very profitable shipping container full of puzzles, Melinda’s break from the map business to run a fish farm, getting the next generation to make maps, and how “the beauty of the [1987 Melbourne map] project is we had no idea what we were doing.” See their maps at themelbournemap.com.au

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Neil Gower: “Twice a week I’ll make a mark on paper and think ‘I wouldn’t want to be doing anything other than what I’m doing.” Aug 08, 2023

Lewes/Berlin graphic artist and “exuberant mapmaker” Neil Gower on painting an estate plan when the grounds are unfinished, the work that gives him a “hum in the pelvis,” what Frank Zappa has in common with high-effort fake maps, an abandoned 5x5 ft. map of Venice that was more enjoyable to ground-truth than to draw, combining lunar toponymy with 1600s Italian map style, a trip to Barcelona on Conde Nast’s dime, and emphatically not illustrating his memoir about starting in a Welsh coal town and ending up in the chalk country of Lewes. See his work at neilgower.com

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Andrew Lynch: “I wish somebody else had done this, but I guess I'm gonna have to figure it out.” Aug 02, 2023

New York City cartographer and QueensLink chief design officer Andrew Lynch on using library archives, train-mounted GoPro footage and his own two feet to plot every track in the New York City subway system, a brush with cubicle-based urban planning at the Port Authority, testy-yet-productive correspondence with railfans, the unshakable authority conveyed by the Google Maps style, how your cartographic project should answer a question, and learning that the obstacle to building a subway extension is not money (“What’s four billion dollars?”) but belief that it can be done. See his work at vanmaps.com and check out the subway extension project at thequeenslink.org

New York City Track Map
Download the full map
About the map
Boston MBTA Track Map
Chicago Track Map
Unbuilt Highways of NYC
The QueensLink plan to add four new M stations to the abandoned Rockaway Beach elevated line; it will also create 33 acres of new parks along the right-of-way.
Cameron Booth
Jake Berman
Massimo Vignelli
Andrew Hagstrom
Sanborn fire insurance maps

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Danielle Currie: “Zoom in buddy, it ain’t paint!” Jul 26, 2023

New Brunswick embroidery artist Danielle Currie discusses her fans among NASA’s Ocean Processing Group, spending more than 400 hours to render an Icelandic river in straight stitches, her hoops being mistaken for paintings, how you really have to enjoy the colors of a piece you’ll hold in your lap for months, pricing herself out of her own art, and not accepting commissions because “they’ll get it when they’re 80.” See her work at satellitestitches.com and instagram.com/satellite_stitches

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Gabriel Camus: “That would be the dream, to make this city that never ends.” Jul 18, 2023

Toronto architect and artist Gabriel Camus discusses the 20" wide, 20 ft. long imagined cityscape he’s been drawing since 2018, a 100 ft. (!) illustration he's never seen the whole of for want of space to roll it out, the modern city as utopia/dystopia, how saying you study architecture can deflect rude questions about your street photography, the pleasures and hassles of walking in anti-pedestrian zones, extending his own roadscapes off the edge of atlas pages, and quitting his job to begin a 3 month trans-Canadian road trip to finally see some “true wilderness.” See his work at instagram.com/gabrielcamus.art

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Simon Polster: “I was hitchhiking from Iran to Berlin and spent quite a long time in the Caucasus.” Jul 10, 2023

Königs Wusterhausen mapmaker Simon Polster discusses falling into his first topo mapping project after hitchhiking from Iran to Berlin, using Soviet topographic maps as a starting point to map Armenian hiking trails, donating data to OpenStreetMap, the eternal method of “play around with it ‘til it looks okay,” completing most of his map layouts in QGIS, spending hours in the map shop inspecting good topos, and turning order fulfillment into a geography lesson for his kid. See Simon’s maps at https://cartisan.org

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Kevin Sheehan: “There’s something good about using old ways of doing things.” Jul 03, 2023

East Yorkshire artist-cartographer Kevin Sheehan discusses picking a fight with fellow history PhDs by drawing a 19x29” calfskin portolan chart of the Mediterranean, spending 2 months stippling the lunar surface with a dip pen, acquiring a novel accent after 20 years in England, heated conversations with flat earthers over his map of the moon, how to make your own 1400s-style transfer paper with candle soot, and how “there’s something good about using, or at least trying, old ways of doing things.” See his work at https://www.manuscriptmaps.com

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Jeff Clark: “Paper maps are dead, long live paper maps.” Jun 27, 2023

Vancouver “accidental cartographer” Jeff Clark discusses his 100-layer 18-month project to map the Salish Sea bioregion, the importance of testing your waterproof trail map paper, getting a big boost from the local press, the eternal hassle of bathymetric data, consulting North America’s best reference mapmakers, and when to call a map finished (never.) See his work at https://www.clarkgeomatics.ca/

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I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Radiant Maps⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. See ultra-detailed backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

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Anthony Despalins: “I feel this energy when creating impossible landscapes, spaces, configurations.” Jun 19, 2023

Lisbon cartographer and artist Anthony Despalins on using the visual language of French 1:50k topos to create imagined landscapes, a toolkit of pencils, poems, markers, memories and ink, drawing inspiration from the Gironde estuary and Matthew 6:9, sketching entire layouts in reverse on tracing paper, chasing altered states while creating worlds, and “living in every inch of the maps” he draws. See his work at https://instagram.com/the_inland_sea

1:50k 1950s French topo example

Add them to QGIS as a WMS layer

Em Todos os Jardins, inspired by a Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen poem
Kishkindha
Zelenskyy
Comme Au Ciel

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Grant Preller: “It started as a fun project and has turned into something I would definitely call a vocation.” Jun 12, 2023

Margaret River cartographer and surfer Grant Preller on catching waves down the Iberian coast in a 1980 VW bus, spending five years on foot marking promising breaks along 50 miles of Australian coastline, relating local history with maps, the plan to map ‘til “the end of [his] days,” and using Google Earth, 1890s coastline maps, 1:50k topos, the local library, an A0 sheet of paper, a pencil and CorelDraw to create an 8-foot map that shows you where to catch a sick barrel 🤙. See Grant’s maps at https://www.instagram.com/bomboramaps/ and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063726562685

Surf map: Contos to Bunker Bay
Surf map: Deepdene to Contos South Beach
Facebook page
Guy’s Safari Maps
Sara Drake (see ep. 4)
Wildwood Maps

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Aaron Taveras: “I would stare at topos for days on end and thought it’d be fun to make them myself.” Jun 05, 2023

Reno cartographer and outdoorsman Aaron Taveras on why he started making his own trail maps, “taking [his] sweet time” to create a hyper-detailed monochrome 4x5’ map of Nevada landforms, beginning a map with the raster data, an inspiring backcountry ski atlas, teaching cartography by disassembling National Park maps, and the beauty of low-amenity public lands. See Aaron’s maps at cartografix.co

Kalmiopsis Wilderness trail map
Grand Teton map
“Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.”

Eduard shaded relief generator
Avenza MAPublisher
Avenza Geographic Imager
Natural Scene Designer
QGIS
ESRI ArcGIS Pro
U.S. Forest Service GIS data clearinghouse
U.S. Geological Survey: The National Map
National Land Cover Dataset
National Park Service’s Adobe Illustrator files
Bernhard Jenny
Alex McPhee (see ep. 6)
Tom Patterson
Eduard Imhof
Mike Hall (see ep. 3)
Joost Grootens
Geodetic Institute of Slovenia
Raven Maps & Images
Helvetic Backcountry Atlas
NACIS conference

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Jake Coolidge: “It’s a great way to learn a place, to try to map it well.” May 30, 2023

Redwood City cartographer and artist Jake Coolidge on making maps the hard way with ink, graphite, a metal scribe, copper, wax and ferric chloride, the difference between in silico and in vivo cartographic generalization, creating novel projections with two-point perspective, learning to letter backwards, training the eye before you train your mouse hand, how a mapmaking process will teach you something about the landscape, and his efforts to combine the handmade with the digital. See his work at jakecoolidgecartography.com

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Daniel Coe: “Science and art can make these really interesting images.” May 24, 2023

Olympia cartographer and graphics editor Daniel Coe on his journey from Alaska sea kayak guide to geomorphology storyteller, what you learn in an office (and family) full of geologists, getting laid off and traveling the world for a year, how the paths of ancient glaciers shaped his neighborhood, the hidden landscapes revealed by infrared laser pulses, and how a few minutes at work adjusting one color ramp seeded hundreds of beautiful river images. See his work at dancoecarto.com

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Anton Thomas: “That mix of serious cartography and serious art; I love that.” May 23, 2023

Nelson artist-cartographer Anton Thomas discusses his travels from Utah to the Himalayas, creating “that mix of serious cartography and serious art,” logging his drawing time with a stopwatch, collecting photo references for 1,500 species, how drawing the little cartouche map-within-a-map can get out of hand, and closing on three years of work to finish his 40x24" map of the world. See his work at antonthomasart.com

North America: Portrait of a Continent
Wild World
Alex Hotchin (Hear her tale in episode one)
Melinda Clark
Kevin McManigal
Tom Patterson
Coastline paradox
Heinrich Berann
Bob Waldmire
Miguel Covarrubias
Jeff Murray
NACIS conference

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Nat Slaughter: “I seem to be drawn to maps that have a timeless quality.” May 22, 2023

Cupertino cartographer, designer and artist Nat Slaughter on using hardcore wildlife survey techniques to count squirrels with Jamie Allen, putting sound installations in shipping containers, the two years of shoe-leather data collection that went into his 5x2’ Central Park map, his desire to walk from Basel to the North Sea, how a one-hour deadline can have (occasionally) sublime results, and an 800-year-old map that feels like it was created yesterday. See Nat’s work at thesquirrelcensus.com

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Jane Crosen: “I thought ‘Well, I’m going to do my own labels using calligraphy, and then I can be my own typesetting machine.’” May 19, 2023

Penobscot, Maine mapmaker Jane Crosen discusses her 40+ year cartographic career, the sound advice of “when in doubt, leave it out,” creating spoof maps for the nautical market, producing two expanded and rearranged editions of George Colby's 1881 atlases of Downeast Maine counties, becoming “[her] own typesetting machine” with a calligraphy pen, the feeling of looking through an airplane window at the landscape she’s drawn so many times, and her “paste-up” map design process that involves a light table, a proportional scale wheel, a pica ruler, mylar, pencils, a 000 brush and india ink. You won’t be surprised to learn this interview was conducted via landline. See Jane’s work at mainemapmaker.com

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Jug Cerović: “The map is the reality; the infrastructure is entirely virtual.” May 18, 2023

Madrid architect and mapmaker Jug Cerović discusses the transit cartographer’s ability to shape reality, drawing hundreds of bus lines by hand, mapping first and visiting later, installing guerrilla maps in his hometown of Belgrade, organizing a new map conference, helping Apple create a good public transit layer, and how seeing Istakhri’s 1,100-year-old maps will make one feel like a tyro. See his work at jugcerovic.com

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Jeff Murray: “The slogan within my work is ‘look closer.’” May 16, 2023

Somerset pen-and-ink artist Jeff Murray discusses sketching across the world during his ski bum years, selling his first print off a folding table in New Zealand, drawing in ten-hour chunks, the joy of selling art out of a gazebo, why he works at the continental scale, playing with perspective, his two hand-painted globes, and the choice words people have when his hyper-detailed maps don’t include their particular landmark. See Jeff's work at jeffmurray.co.uk

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Carl Churchill: “Immersing myself in thousands of high quality maps allowed me to develop a certain style.” May 10, 2023

Union City cartographer and Wall Street Journal graphics editor Carl Churchill talks his map vocation and EDM avocation, spending two weeks on an elaborate wildflower-detection remote sensing script before an editor (correctly) tossed it, making fantasy maps with GIS tools, what drum loops taught him about radar interferometry, why "get paid to do what you love" will make you fall out of love, and how you can make beautiful maps with a good inspo board, a tolerance for academic papers and a willingness to try. See his maps at churchillgeo.com

Cartographers he recommends:

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Elliot Park: “Why would you want to create a relief map you can’t touch?” May 09, 2023

Columbia designer, illustrator, artisan and country songwriter Elliot Park on his ten year quest to hydraulically press a good map into good materials. Discussed: the lack of texture in today’s stuff, moving from DEM to CNC to a big beautiful copper/leather map, learning by (expensive) trial, the quest for a leather globe, and the challenge of creating lasting art that’s meant to be touched. See his leather and copper maps at columbiapressworks.com

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Kirsten Sparenborg: “I elaborate on the emotion of places when I make maps.” May 07, 2023

Tacoma map artist and chorographer Kirsten Sparenborg discusses her huge body of work in ink and watercolor, her years in architectural illustration, an ill-starred mural commission, making her own pigments out of local rocks, and her next 10-panel 46 sq. ft. project. See her work at turnofthecenturies.com

Artists she likes:

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Aurélien Boyer-Moraes: “The most important part is that the map goes to the public, it’s useful, and it’s used.” May 05, 2023

Lisbon transit cartographer and designer Aurélien Boyer-Moraes talks learning to use a computer at 19, creating his first 3x4 ft. transit map of an imagined Brazilian city after reading Jacques Bertin’s Semiology of Graphics cover-to-cover, preempting Google Street View in Lyon with his 6x6 Seagull camera, ten years of designing transit maps for French cities with Attoma, and his heavily-annotated collection of 2,100 transit and city maps (which he might let you see someday.) See his maps at https://transit-map.com/
Indented below are Aurélien’s notes on my notes (he is, as you can imagine, a precise man).

Transit maps originally designed by Aurélien

Metz, and Aurélien’s original design

“The colors were imposed, there was no discussion, the use of these specific colors was mandatory because they were the new colors of the authority overseeing the transport in the agglomeration. They do not convey any specific information, which is against my general ‘credo’, but we had to use them in the map.”

Toulouse

“My map had a strong palette which was consistent with the offer (the headways and the span of service) as you can see in the original from sept 2013, but it was scrapped in-house.”

Dijon

“A picture of a bus stop with the maps displayed (plan schématique général and the city center) and a pdf of an early version of the paper maps as they were issued in three different configurations: North, SE and SW (SO for sud-ouest), only the geographic map changed accordingly, the plan schématique remained the same, it was the reference. This initial configuration was irrelevant for a city of this size (250,000 inhabitants), then they reversed back to a single issue with, on one side the schéma + the center + information, and overleaf the geographic map.”

Lyon, and Aurélien’s original design

Milan street map, completed in under two weeks
Lisbon bus, tram and subway map
Marseilles transit as of 1957
Vignelli’s 1972 NYC subway map (cropped seven years later without his input, quelle horreur!)

“I have a lot of respect for the early version of the map that the MTA committee led by Tauranac (with Michael Hertz as designer) released in 1979 (and was left almost untouched until the 1990s).
One of the most relevant features of this map was the introduction of a very well thought out color code system by trunk in Mahanttan, which finally served also Vignelli since it makes his redesign of 2008 even more efficient! I am not a ‘blind pro-Vignelli, all against-1979 map.’ It is way more subtle than that.
Although the 1979 map evolved in such a wrong way since the mid-1990s, that today it is a spaghetti plate, and the redesign—first with the weekender and then with the opening of the first section of the 2nd subway line (after the demise of Vignelli)—by Cifuentes-Waterhouse in 2017 is more than ever powerfull thanks to the work of the 1979 committee.”

Jarret Walker: a transit planning consultancy
Sanborn insurance maps of Manhattan
Two cartographers Aurélien would like to honor:

“A Frenchman (for once) civil engineer from the prestigious École des ponts et chaussées, from the 19th century Charles-Joseph Minard (1781-1870) whose work is stilll pretty obscure to the general public, I learnt about him while reading The Visual Quantitative Display of Quantitative Information by Tufte, and you can easily find information about his impressive charts on the www.”
“A Swiss designer (alive) who worked mostly in France, Rudi Meyer, he designed the 1976 splendid RER diagram and the French Railway system map that was on display from the late 1970s until 2011 in the trains.

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Bill Marsh: “There’s something really useful about seeing the whole thing in one sweep, in great detail, all at once.” May 02, 2023

Philadelphia cartographer and New York Times graphics editor Bill Marsh describes his 30-year project to map his adopted city, his collection of hyper-dense axonometric maps, getting the Philadelphia Inquirer to chopper a photographer over the city for him, and the bygone days of hand-inked editorial maps (an early project: illustrating the nuclear annihilation of Grand Rapids, Michigan.) You can buy his magisterial map of Philadelphia for $7 from https://store.philamuseum.org/philadelphia-pictorial-map-and-walking-guide/

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Travis Folk: “Surely there are folks desirous of traditional cartography of a modern landscape.” May 01, 2023

Green Pond wildlife biologist and map designer for New World Cartography discusses working with artist Tony Waters, radio-tracking northern bobwhites (quail) under the pines of the Conecuh National Forest, memorializing Aldo the Llewellin Setter on a map of game birds, and agreeing to a 9x14-ft project before knowing exactly how to uh, install a 9x14-ft project (it turned out great). See Folk’s maps at newworldcartography.com

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Alex McPhee: “I love watching over people’s shoulders as they interact with what I do.” Apr 30, 2023

Val Marie independent cartographer Alex McPhee describes learning to create enormous reference maps, his pre-mapping road trips, rural Saskatchewanians’ surprise in finding every train station on his provincial map (they didn’t believe him), how cartographers need to observe people interacting with their maps, and how nothing sells 3x5-ft maps like a radio interview. See his work at awmcphee.ca

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Kate Tarling: “When you’re stitching, you’re stitching footsteps into that landscape.” Apr 28, 2023

Bristol textile artist and mapmaker Kate Tarling talks freehand machine embroidering coastlines onto lampshades, her preference for silk paints (despite the hassle), color inspiration from her garden, and how she does most of her sketching in her head during dog walks. See her work at katetarlingtextiles.com

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Sara Drake: “My brain thinks in 3D rather than 2D.” Apr 27, 2023

Fremantle-based mapmaker, artist and illustrator Sara Drake on her first globe, her two-year wait list, the challenge of photographing her ultra-detailed 3D maps, and adding to a piece until “someone physically wrestles it out of [her] hands.” See her maps at saradrake.com

Map artists she likes:

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Mike Hall: “I keep returning to that mid-twentieth-century style.” Apr 26, 2023

British illustrator and cartographer Mike Hall talks early mapping projects of his native Harlow, his favorite map aesthetic, the relaxing practice of coastline-tracing and how he will place 1,500 labels but will not make a “Where's Wally?” map. See his work at thisismikehall.com

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Anna Eshelman: “Where water carves; that’s fascinating to me.” Apr 25, 2023

Oregon cartographic designer, illustrator and production artist Anna Eshelman talks sketching Mt. Rainier while pulling 26-mile days on the Wonderland Trail, why she starts her illustrations with a blunt pencil, and the enormous manual shaded relief she’d finish if she had any time. See her work at annaeshelman.com

Garnet Point Trail Map
Wonderland Trail at Night
Tom Patterson’s shaded relief site: he makes beautiful maps and releases them to the public domain
Shaded Relief Archive
Marty Schnure’s ANWR panoramas
Climate.gov (Anna makes a lot of the maps and charts here)
Old Growth Forest Network

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? ⁠The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast.⁠ See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: ⁠Radiant Maps⁠. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

Alex Hotchin: “making a career out of drawing how beautiful the world can be” Apr 23, 2023

Australian cartographer and illustrator Alex Hotchin talks about her first map, cycling from Scotland to Cambodia sans GPS, and “a career drawing how beautiful the world can be.” See her work at alexhotchin.com

Need maps for your org’s reports, decks, walls and events? The Map Consultancy makes real nice maps, real fast. See what good maps can do for you at themapconsultancy.com

I have three words for you: Big. Glowing. Maps. Depending on how that makes you feel, you might like two more words: Radiant Maps. See the most beautiful backlit maps at radiantmaps.co

Time for some map gifts: get 15% off woven map blankets and backlit map decor with code 15OFF, everything ships free – ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/RadiantMaps?coupon=15OFF⁠

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