This week, I was really taken by this beautiful map created in the style of a US National Park Service map by Andy Woodruff. I’ve followed Andy’s work for many years and his maps are always high on quality, as well as the thought he puts into the design process.
I think this latest piece of work can teach us a few things. First, that great cartography, which looks effortless, is not easy. Sure, anyone can make a map, but making a great map demands careful thought, a knowledge of the craft, and the experience of knowing how to approach the hundreds of decisions that are required in getting from an idea to execution. Great maps don’t just fall off the page. They take work to make them work.
Second, Andy effectively treated this project as a way to create a new map in the style of another. I used to set a similar task for students where I’d ask them to select a classic map, then set about trying to replicate it using modern technology, and data. This exercise is in some ways a short-cut to using a design language and style that has evolved over many years by others, to craft a new product. It leans heavily on decisions others have made but why not? This is still a new map, but it draws on a well-known and beautiful style. What the exercise also achieves for the cartographer is to develop a strong sense of why the design works, and how to make it work for the new area being mapped. Not everything has to try and be brand new. Use what exists, tweak it where necessary.
Third, Andy’s not afraid to give new technology and techniques a try. Here, he’s used the new(ish) Eduard hillshading tool in place of a hillshade he might have used Blender to create. Give new stuff a try. It might just work! In this case I think the hillshade is stunning, and has just the right level of detail and generalisation to suit the overall composition.
Andy goes into way more detail describing the design and process here. Well worth a read.