Update: 2/26 - a little late, but here is a hand drawn map I made for the postal service of my neighborhood! I changed the orientation to "up" being south because from Haight street, up is South, down is north. It makes perfect sense. This is not very related to my target project yet... 

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I have too many ideas and not enough time! This project I want to get done anyway, so I'll use it as my project here, but I want to do a side project about San Francisco as well if I can make the time.

Why am I making this map? 

I am currently very interested in illustrating for ebooks. A friend of mine is working on an ebook of China's environmental heros and wants an accompanying map: I want to take a stab at it.

Why am I the expert to create this map?

My professional and academic background is in China environmental issues, I know the characters of the book, and...I've illustrated for ebooks before?

Who is my target audience?

Mostly academic and some professionals adults interested in China's environmental history. These people have a pretty good understanding of China already, but will use the map as a quick reference guide to the book. 

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)

Digital and itty bitty. It must communicate in black and white as well as color. I'd like it to be vertically oriented somehow, as most people will hold the book that way. I would like a distinctly Chinese element to it.    

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

Big country, small space--very little detail. The book is about the people, and I'd ideally like to communicate their faces somehow, though I may not have space. At a minimum, I need to communicate the 8 cities and some physical elements mentioned in the book. Because it will be so small, I might prefer to make a single full-country map at the begining, and then a series of smaller maps at the chapter heads. I'd also like to include some reference to time...perhaps just a timeline at the bottom.