A couple months back, I floated an idea for making some fun trading cards based on map projections. I'm very happy to report that several dozen of you responded and contributed designs to help make the set happen. I've been spending several weeks on managing everyone and working through logistics, and I'm pleased to now … Continue reading Projection Cards: Now a Reality →

While many people use my Blender shaded relief tutorial, and associate me with the software, I'm really not much of a 3D cartographer. I make oblique-view maps only rarely, and when I do, it's usually in a simplified, abstract style, rather than the detailed, naturalistic representations that people like Tom Patterson produce. Here's a not-quite-finalized … Continue reading Simple Oblique Views in Blender →

Spatial accuracy is not always your friend. A few weeks ago I wrote about the potential downsides of making an overly-detailed shaded relief image. It’s easy for readers to miss the major landforms, as they are hidden under the highly-detailed noise of the individual hills and bumps. I truly understand the urge to show all … Continue reading A Generalization Ramble →

In the years since I stumbled across the idea of creating shaded relief in Blender, I’ve been amazed at the extent to which the cartographic community has adopted this technique. This was wholly unexpected: I’ve seen plenty of relief tricks come and go without achieving widespread adoption. This makes sense, given that there’s no “right” … Continue reading Towards Less Blender-y Relief →

Today I'm going to steal an idea from Anton Thomas. A while back, he released North America: Portrait of a Continent, which is a masterpiece well worth looking at. As part of that release, he also used pieces of the map to take people on virtual tours of the map, and the landscape it depicts. … Continue reading Landforms of Michigan: A Mini-Tour →