When I started my first map-related website back in 2010(?), it had some text on there about how I thought it would be cool to bring together map artists into one place where people could buy our products. This may have been borne out of my own failed attempts to sell a couple maps of … Continue reading A Holiday Shopping List
The Quest for the Blue Moon
Where I come from, many ice cream places offer a flavor called blue moon. In the freezer case, its unnatural coloration immediately draws attention amidst the more pedestrian offerings of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Photo by Bill McChesney, via Wikipedia. CC-BY-2.0 Its actual flavor (and coloration) varies from purveyor to purveyor, each with their own … Continue reading The Quest for the Blue Moon
Musings on Approximate Labels
When I teach map labeling, I explain how one of the fundamental principles is to create a clear visual relationship between the label, and the thing it's labeling. We always want it to be plain to our audience which label is meant to connect to which dot, polygon, etc. There are a lot of strategies … Continue reading Musings on Approximate Labels
The Pieces of Maps Behind Me
Sometimes people ask about what's on the wall behind me when I'm presenting via my webcam. So, I thought I'd make a quick explanatory post. Nailed to the wall of my computer alcove is a set of four aluminum plates which were used to print part of a book — specifically, the back side of … Continue reading The Pieces of Maps Behind Me
Back to the Rivers
Friends, a few months ago I finally published An Atlas of North American Rivers, a series of maps showing the connectivity of major stream systems across the continent, done up in a style reminiscent of transit maps. It was a project that I'd left fallow for many years and finally, due to the pandemic lockdown, … Continue reading Back to the Rivers
Regrets
I used to run another map blog, before this one. It's an effort that I look back upon with regret, and prefer not to think too much about. After leaving it fallow for years, I finally took it offline a year ago and hoped nobody would notice, or remember it even existed. However, I think … Continue reading Regrets
Lessons Learned: How to do Map Stuff
Friends, I was very pleased (and overwhelmed) to have hundreds(!) of you join us during the How to do Map Stuff event yesterday. If you missed some or all of it, no worries! Most everything was recorded. You can find most links in this YouTube playlist. There is one other recordings that isn't on that … Continue reading Lessons Learned: How to do Map Stuff
Odds and Ends, Part 2
I do a lot of mapping for fun and exploration. Sometimes these projects get their own blog posts and end up in my portfolio. But other times, they're little things that don't really have anywhere to live; they're not worth blogging about on their own. Instead, I generally scatter them on the winds of Twitter, … Continue reading Odds and Ends, Part 2
An Atlas of North American Rivers
Around a decade ago, I started making river maps, in a style reminiscent of transit networks. I made a lot of them, and had the idea of compiling them into an atlas. I wrote about them, and even sold prints of them. And then I stopped. My atlas sat, 99% complete, mostly untouched, for about … Continue reading An Atlas of North American Rivers
2020 Cartographic Freelancer Survey Results
Several weeks ago, Aly Ollivierre and I posted a survey on pay and business practices in the freelance mapping community. Fifty-six of you were kind enough to take the time to answer our questions; our thanks to all of you for helping bring more transparency to freelancing! If you'd like to see the survey results, … Continue reading 2020 Cartographic Freelancer Survey Results
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