FINAL PROJECT

Here's my pinspiration: https://pinterest.com/reginarcruz/maps/

Originally wanted to make a map that featured favorite market stalls in various stages of our lives. I drew up a list of 30 (!) stalls and was then faced with the problem of how to fit them all in one page… especially if I wanted to attempt a nice illustrated map like the ones that populate my pinterest board. So I decided to pare down the list first, test my basic map-making and layouting skills, and save the more complex maps dancing around my head for future projects.

On a side note, as I was searching for inspiration and thinking of my own map, I was able to come up with so many ideas!  It’s a good thing we were required to define the map’s audience and purpose  beforehand, because that really helped evaluate the ideas :)

Anyway, on to the map. I hand-lettered the stall names (below). I wanted to use color-coded watercolor labels too but had to ditch that idea when I simplified the map concept.

I used a combination of PowerPoint, PhotoShop, and Illustrator. My PhotoShop skills are limited to cropping and resizing pictures, and it was my first time to try anything in Illustrator! I ended up using Illustrator for combining all the elements, but I also discovered that I have a lot to learn in terms of making all the elements the right size that will work well with each other. The final output is a bit fuzzy, so here are the individual elements first, so that you’ll be able to read it.

Here is the map layout, done on Powerpoint:

And here are the descriptions of the stalls, done on Powerpoint as well (all cropping on PhotoShop! Yay!):

And here's the map title:

Here is everything put together:

The map overview was drawn on cream paper -- I'm sure there's a way to make it look white (I'd prefer it that way) but I don't know how to do that yet (any tips?)

I didn't mean for the hearts to be so big, but it was the smallest they could be to accommodate the font size. Anyway, we really like shopping at those stalls so big hearts are justified :) 

So there it is! Not perfect, but that's okay. I've still some ways to go before I get to the level that I want to be at, but I think it's a nice start. :)

Comments are welcome! 

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One of the things I love most  about our home is that the community market is right across. Every Saturday, I just roll out of bed and cross the street to shopping! The first few times we went there, my husband and I were overwhelmed by the choices. The stalls sell food from different provinces across the Philippines, making this the best place to visit if you wanted to taste the Philippines in a morning! There's a good deal of foreign cuisine too-- those stalls are mostly owned by expats, so I like to think that it's as authentic as it gets. And of course, you can find organic food and locally-grown/sourced food. 

Over the years, we've developed our favorites, andit's interesting to see that the mix of stalls has changed as we've progressed through our lifestages. So I'm making this map both as a guide, but also to freeze time, so to speak. The stalls also change as people come go-- I may not be able to capture this on my map/maps (my favorites haven't left, good for me!), but I'd like to capture our favorites at a particular time.