Here are a few of my favourite maps from 2023. They’re in no particular order. They’re not a top ten. There are plenty more. I’ve likely not included any that you may prefer, and that’s fine because it’s just a list of stuff that caught my particular eye this last year. Rather than summarize what […]
Category: General posts
Maps of the Turkey/Syria Earthquakes
On 6th February 2023 two large earthquakes hit southern and central Turkey, and northern Syria. They measured approximately 7.5 and 7.8 on the Moment-magnitude scale, and led to massive loss of life, and property. At the time of writing it’s been a week since these catastrophic events, and the images of destruction, and unbearable loss […]
Favourite maps of 2022
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 […]
Yet another new design for an old map
There’s a large underground group of people who assert that the London Underground map is no longer fit for purpose and simply relies on its lauded history as a descendent of Harry Beck’s magnificent 1933 original. I’m one of those people. In 2019 I created a totally new design for the map (blogs here and […]
It’s not a tube map
May 2022, some 90 years since Henry ‘Harry’ Beck designed his famous ‘Map of London’s Underground Railways’, and the latest incarnation has been released here. It’s now called the ‘Tube Map’ except it’s anything but a map of the tube network. I’m a huge fan of Beck’s original design. Borrowing heavily from other transport maps […]
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 […]
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 […]
Maps ARE ads
I have a few upcoming conference talks and one of the themes I’m going to explore is the idea of ethics in cartography. The long held, and often repeated, ideal of what cartography constitutes is based on the notion that cartographers are a wholly objective breed who use clean and unequivocal data to tell the […]
My difficult second album
Sometime after my first book was published in 2018 I began to think I had another one in me. Thematic Mapping: 101 inspiring ways to visualise empirical data was published this week by Esri Press. Written mostly in 2019 and during the early part of working at home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, […]
Ethical cartography
All maps have the power to lie. With such power comes great responsibility on the part of the map-maker. Understanding how to remain objective, be thorough, and be able to justify decisions is a vital aspect of good cartographic practice. Discussions, debates, and statements on the value and purpose of maintaining an ethical approach to […]