So you want to write a story about gerrymandering of political boundaries. And how are you going to get your readers to read such a geographically and politically interesting, but likely rather dry, topic? By playing a round of mini-golf. And that’s the brainchild of Dylan Moriarty and Joe Fox of the Washington Post graphics […]
Author: Kenneth Field
Favourite maps of 2021
Hello friends, Here is my annual selection of favourite maps that I’ve seen this past year. They’re in no particular order, and I’ve most likely missed a load but here goes… and don’t forget to click on the links to go to the originals. I hope I’ve attributed maps correctly but if there’s any errors […]
Langvann
For the last couple of years cartographers and map-makers from around the world have taken part in a community-driven informal mapping event called the 30 Day Map Challenge. Created by Topi Tjukanov, it runs on Twitter with the simple idea that every day people upload a map based around the theme of the day. Adding […]
Cop-out
I’m a real sucker for cartoons that incorporate maps, and when they’re by one of my favourite cartoonists all the better. This cartoon by Peter Brookes (of The Times) wonderfully uses the globe as a bag of hot air metaphor to reflect on the COP26 meeting in Scotland. It’s my map of the week. There’s […]
It’s a gas!
The scrollytelling form has become a standard mechanism to deliver visual journalism, but they’re not all made equally. ‘How does Europe get its gas?’ by the Financial Time Visual Storytelling Team and David Sheppard is my map of the week for showing how it should be done. I can’t possibly do it justice on a […]
Pumpkin globe
I carved this pumpkin globe a few years ago but given it’s Halloween I thought I’d share it as my map of the week.
Great cartographers steal
What? Stealing is a thing in cartography? Let me unpack this, and offer some ideas to combat cartographic plagiarism. Pablo Picasso is often credited with the quote “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” A good artist will see another artist’s style and emulate it as closely as they can. A great artist selects elements from […]
Two planks of wood
The last time I went snowboarding was early 2020 and as I flew out of Tokyo’s Haneda airport mid-February we could just make out a cruise liner docked in Yokohama harbour. It was the Diamond Princess. At the time no-one on our flight knew what was to come, that we’d not be flying for nearly […]
Oklahoma Casserole
I spent a few days at the NACIS conference in Oklahoma City and my map of the week could have been any number of sensible maps I saw. But for sheer ridiculousness, this wonderful piece of earthenware got me all in a stew. I didn’t make a purchase.
Gerrymandered maps
Cartographers are often the scapegoat for maps that people don’t necessarily agree with. Cartographic bias can manifest in many forms and yes, sometimes the person making the map has a particular angle to draw your attention to. In times past (and possibly in some parts of the world still), maps were made under orders to […]