Create an amazing visual map

Finding Inspiration

Look for maps in the world around you
Start looking at maps in the world around you. Are you completely digital these days? Does your city use maps? Where? Do you know how to read it? What could make it stronger? How would you re-design it. I want you to start thinking about how you see and use maps. The goal is to create a project that you're excited about, so figure out what makes you tick.

Start by browsing this Pinterest Make a Map board while listening to this NPR story with Simon Garfield, author of 'On the Map' to get inspired about map making.
Answer these questions on your project
Click the "Start Your Project" link below to open up your personal Project Workspace and answer the following questions:
1. Why am I making this map? For fun? A client? a
  gift? To showcase my favorite places? Etc.
2. Why am I the expert to create this map?
3. Who is my target audience?
4. What level of detail do I need to include? (Names,
  addresses, contact info, street names, website,
  hours, descriptions, color coding etc.).
5. Do I want my ﬁnal project to be printed or digital?
  How is it going to be used/ held? What other
  constraints do I need to keep in mind moving
  forward? (Note: type can be smaller on printed maps
  than when viewed on web).
6. “Dear classmates, I need your help/expertise/
  guidance on how to.....”
It's a good idea to refer back to these questions as you work through your project. You can always update your responses as your project morphs and you discover any challenges or limitations along the way.
Take this Bremen Artist Quiz
This step is just for fun. This Bremen Artist quiz makes you answer whether a human or animal created the work of art. The point is to show you that I'm not looking for perfection out of these projects. I want you to have fun, not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and explore!

Hand-Drawn + Printed Maps

Share what inspires you!
Share your favorite resources for maps/guides in the class feed in your project workspace so fellow students can better see the kind of things that inspire you. You can do this in the form of a list with hyperlinks, Pinterest board, or uploading a few images. When you share your inspiration it's helpful to write a brief note about why you like it or think it's a strong example.

You can also share your great new finds on this Inspiration thread!
Draw a map by hand (or foot)
Hand drawn maps can be really effective in their simplicity, but also can tell a story. Grab whatever piece of paper that is closest to you and get started. Here are some ideas of what you could draw.
- Your walk to school/work
- An place that you've created
- Directions to a party
- A map of how to get to your favorite shop, restaurant, etc.
- Anything you like!
While on his way to work, Phil Francis drew his commute on the banana he had!

Trixia Yong drew a map of her desk as a road map for ants and other insects.

Lauren Kilberg decided to draw maps of places she's lived from memory, and then compared them to reality.

Anita Boeira was concerned about being a perfectionist so I challenged her to draw her map with her foot. She did (of Utah)! And she took a video of it!!
Sketch ideas/lists for your final project
Think about the places you may want to include on your map, and little details and touches that may make it more interesting. Think about keeping a notebook with you so you can write down ideas or draw quick sketches as they come to you.

(Sketch from Jean Manis's student project)

Mapping in the Digital Age

Experiment with your "Imaginary City"
Experiment with your "Imaginary City" exploring 1 or all 3 of the ideas suggested:
1. Construction paper shapes to form a city
2. "Zoom Maps" where you take a small zone of a map and draw it
3. Trace an existing map
These experiments can be working towards your final project, or completely different maps if you prefer.

Scan it in or snap a quick picture and upload it to your project page.

TIP: It's ok to feel like you're in elementary school again.

Trixia Yong created this imaginary city.

Trina Dalziel used paper scraps from another project she was working on to create her imaginary city.

Naomi Devine traced the area where her Dragon Boat team practices.
Plot your locations
Everyone works differently, but If you feel so inclined...
1. Plot the locations of your choice digitally (using a program such as Google Maps, Everplaces, AFAR etc).
2. Share the link and screencapure for your map on your project page.
Feel free to use this as a base to create/build your final map project.

This google map showcases the cities of [almost] everyone taking this class!

Screenshot from my Everplaces favorites.

Polishing Your Maps!

Share feedback on projects
Explore your classmate's projects in the Student Gallery and help leave constructive feedback to get feedback on your project in return!

Katrina Emery, uses embroidery to illustrate Portland, OR.

Ginger's walk as mapped by Jean Manis. See how she's decided to create her project into a mini booklet!
Upload your work!
Hopefully you've been sharing your progress all along, but definitely upload your final projects!

Here are a few of a range of styles:

Katrina Emery's embroidered map of Portland's bridges.

Johanna Forsman's vintage stores in Stockholm.

Chris Olson's Keystone for kids.
Do your homework
Don't be scared! Not like when you were in school. All I mean here is be sure that you take some time to dig through the Additional Resources. You by no means need to look at them all, but concentrate on your own areas of interests.
Review the class!
If you have any specific class feedback or questions, it's best to leave those in the Q&A discussion board so I can respond to them, and continue to finesse the class to make it stronger.

If you enjoyed the class, I'd love for you to leave an official Skillshare review so others will be encouraged to sign up.

If you have any friends who are interested in taking the class, or want to share the class online, please use this link: http://skl.sh/11RQ8Ig

Additional Resources

While there's no required reading for this class, here are three books that I love!
- From Here to There: a Curious Collection by Kris Harzinski
- On the Map by Simon Garfield ( + interview on NPR + on The Colbert Report)
- A Map of the World according to illustrators and storytellers from Gestalten is a beautiful coffee table book. There is a nice feature (with more images) on Brain Pickings
Resources from Welcome Lecture:
- My Life in Maps (about your teacher) + How To Ride The Paris Metro (a collaboration with Ashley Ludaescher that we made for the Skillshare "Visual Storytelling" class - it took us 2 months to ﬁnish our project!)
- Hand Drawn Map Association
- Le Paper Globe (downloadable globe by Joachim Robert)
Over 1,000 students from more than 35 countries around the world covering all 5 continents are part in this class. They are all mapped out here. If you don't see your location, add it to the [public] map!
The West Wing breaks down what’s wrong with maps and why the Gals-Peters Projection is more accurate and less politically biased than the Mercator map we’ve been using for centuries. Watch the clip here.
I created a PDF with images of the maps featured in the lecture + bonus maps. Whenever possible visit your local bookstore or library to check these out in person. The titles and illustrator names are hyper-linkable, so keep doing some digging to learn more about these projects!
The Hand Drawn Map Association is a real association. There are tons of hand drawn maps on their site. Many will make you laugh or smile. The book they published is called From Here to There (click for a look at some pages).
Lecture resources, part 1 + 2 (see also PDF)
- Paris vs NYC by Vahram Muratyan (illustrations/juxtapositions in his ﬁrst book; Map of New York on Paris; map of Paris on New York)
- IDEO Eyes Open Guide
- Chronicle Books City Walks (I showed you Paris) Knopf Map Guides (I showed you Berlin)
- Transit Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden
- Paris Underground by Mark Ovenden
- London Transport Museum (visit if you go to London!)
- Eyewitness Travel Guides (showed Cyprus)
- Herb Lester fold out maps by various illustrators (looked at Alone in Paris + Berlin)
- Printa Cafe in Budapest (craft paper map- click bottom left to enlarge)
- Leconte Plan de Paris map book
- Stitching Postcards (by Leihener, Seng, Valder)
- Embroidered maps by Katrina (who is in this class!)
- AFAR (US-based travel mag, looked at map infographic)
- Anthology Magazine (US-based lifestyle mag, looked at map in table of contents)
- easyJet Traveller (in-ﬂight magazine + simple use of maps for detail)
- Anywhere Travel Guide by Magda Lipka Falck
- Le Paper Globe (downloadable globe by Joachim Robert)
These are two reliable [online] printers if you're looking to make postcards, note cards, biz cards, etc.
- 4by6.com
- Moo.com
Bonus/extra links to check out:
- New York City Transit Autority Graphic Standards Manual (from 1970)
- They Draw and Travel (submit a map sized to their speciﬁcation, fun locations around the world)
- Famille Summerbelle papercut maps – in progress images
- Paper sculptures of cities by Matthew Picton
Class lecture links (and a few bonus links):
- Class [Google] map (sorry, I didn't realize the embed code pop-up didn't show up in the screenshare)
- Google map video tutorial (good for walking tours)
- Class map integrated into blog post
- BuzzFeed maps to put the U.S. into perspective
- Carnets de Traverse (nice roll overs + custom pins)
- They Draw + They Travel (for your final project feel free to use their guidelines and submit a map there!)
- Griottes (Iceland travel post)
- My Little Paris Favorite Address (winter places to warm up in Paris)
- Everplaces
- Creative Commons (gives you permissions to use others images when properly credited)
- OpenStreetMap (free WiKi map – if you're savvy with code, definitely look into this!)
- French Techlist (resources for start-ups in map form)
- Hejomap by Hejorama (created useing OpenStreetMap)
- MapBox (customizable maps + article on innovative map powered design)
- WheelMap.org (OpenStreet Map used to create a guide for wheelchair accessible places)
- KLM Personalized City Maps (and article with video)
Additional reading:
- The Intersection of Design + Science (chock full of great links from Erin Loechner)
- Edward Tufte's example of Napoleon's March (guru of information communication and exploring layered information.... Maybe Napoleon's soldiers didn't die in war, but because of freezing temperatures!)
- Principles of Map Design
- Strange Maps
Meg Lewis offers a great intro to Photoshop class on Skillshare if you're interested in building those skills.

Brad Woodard offers a great Illustrator class.

Or you can take a stab at InDesign in my other Skillshare class. Try the code HIGHFIVE for a discount :)
[Affordable] Tools for Mapping:
- Illustrator on Skillshare with Brad Woodard (highly recommended! Brad actually offers 2 classes about the program. I've taken them both and learned so much)
- Powerpoint (Microsoft program, easier to draw than in Word)
- Pages for Mac (page layout software, affordable in iTunes store)
- Gimp (free program that works like Photoshop)
- Inkscape (free vector-based program that works like Illustrator)
- Adobe TV free tutorials (Adobe Photshop Elements) [there is a 30-day free download, that is part of the Creative Cloud]
- Pugly Pixel photoshop and CSS tutorials + freebies
- Lynda.com tutorials (by subscription)
- Bamboo Paper wacom tablet + iPad app
- How to make an animated gif (Photoshop CS5 & 6)
- How to use the bezier Pen Tool (Illustrator, applies to Photoshop, InDesign too)
- Dropbox (one way to host downloadable maps in a public folder if you don't have your own FTP host)
- World vector map free downloads (here + here)
- Stately map font (using HTML + CSS)
- GoogleMaps API
More resources from your classmates here!
When the class first launched, I had "Office Hours" to showcase some of my favorite projects. You can check out some interesting maps which I've divided into different themes. This can be helpful to watch if you want a little extra inspiration and to have me walk you through some concepts.

Best of Maps is a post I wrote for my blog when the class first started. You can visit ALL the amazing work from your fellow mappers HERE. I love being inspired by the work of others.
The Joys of Illustrated Maps in the Era of Google Earth is an article I enjoyed in Smashing Magazine. It has a helpful tutorial showing screenshots from Illustrator to see yet another person's work style. Don't forget, you can always google topics of interests to find extra tutorials and insights into how people work.
One thing I've noticed about start-ups is that they often change their name or direction of their project. Here are a few to keep your eye on.
- Karta
- Say Hi narrative mapping
- Maptia (+ blog)
- Mapalong
- Justmap.it

Alessandra Olanow

brooklyn illustrator + artist

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