• Why am I making this map? For fun? A client? A gift? To showcase my favorite places? Etc.

I am designing a map to share information about the vendors at my farmers market to shoppers.  I would like it to be both functional and beautiful.  At the market, we require that all our farmers and food artisans come from within a 200-mile radius of our neighborhood's ZIP code (60626).  I would like to 

A) highlight our local producers by creating a 200-mile radius circle around Rogers Park

B) place our farms and value-added food vendors on the map, demonstrating that they all fall within the circle, using their logo to mark the location

We have farmers who are pretty far-flung outside of the city, but also have a number of prepared food vendors who are clustered in Chicago.  I will need to play with the map's scale so that the area immediately around Chicago is to a larger scale (if I made it big enough to differentiate the Chicago vendors, my map would have to be HUGE in order to fit my rural vendors).

I plan that this map could be both digital and printed.  We would use it on our website, but could also include it on our marketing brochures.  I would also plan to have it posted on site at the market, and want it to be beautiful enough that people might want to purchase posters or t-shirts with the image.

• Why am I the expert to create this map?

As one of the founders of this farmers market and one of two people who select the vendors and run the market, I am perhaps the most informed about who our vendors are and where they come from.  I also have such a passion for my market, that I want everyone to appreciate the amazing local food producers we have visiting our community every week!

• Who is my target audience?

Shoppers at the market would be the primary audience.  We could also use this map for writing grants aimed at improving local food access, and my vendors could use it to help promote the market.

• Do I want my final project to be printed or digital? How is 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)

I imagine that most people would be viewing this as a printed map at the market (or as a poster in their homes ;)  However, I would like to be able to insert it into a website or digital brochure.  I don't think the font size will be a huge issue, since I think most of the information I want to share will be pictoral rather than written.

• What level of detail do I need to include? (Names, addresses, contact info, street names, website, hours, descriptions, color coding, etc.)

I hadn't been planning to include contact information or addresses for my vendors.  I have been envisioning a map of the 4-state area around Chicago (Illinois, surrounded by Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan).  There would be a circle representing our 200-mile radius; the area outside of that circle would be a less vibrant color (maybe even shades of gray?).  Since I will need to show Chicago in a larger scale than my surrounding areas, I have been considering either a zoomed-in circle on the map or a skewed perspective (like the map of the View of the World from 9th Ave in the class Pinterest board).  I think a zoomed-in circle would be easier to accomplish.  I would indicate my vendors using their logos as the location marker, and could have a map key pairing the logo and business name/ address.

As I kind of side project, I would also like to demonstrate where the food goes in the community once it arrives at the market.  I picture a vague map of our vendors set up on the street, with lines connecting the appropriate vendor to a local store, restaurant, food pantry, etc.  I don't know how to incorporate this information precisely.  It might need to be along the perimeter of my map?

• Dear class, I need your help/expertise/guidance on how to.....

Turn my ideas into something beautiful and professional-looking!

UPDATE: I got a 67% on the quiz.  And I love the idea of a dog named Tillamook Cheddar :)