Challenge News
Dec 18/ Feb 19 Lite Challenge: Map a Deadly Dungeon!
Our current Lite Challenge, running for two months, will end later this week, so watch out for the poll around the 14th. You can check out the current entries here.
January 2019 challenge : Map a Dystopia
January's challenge invited Guilders to 'Map a Dystopia', whether one from a book or movie, or something of their making. Our congrats go to Naima for the wonderfully imaginative RingWorld. Naima wins a first gold compass in his first ever challenge! Check out the WIP thread here.
Honourable mention to runner-up Ilanthar for his map 'Earth 2085'.
February 2019 challenge : Commission a Guilder
February's challenge is a re-run of a popular challenge we've had before : Commission a Guilder. In summary, you partner with another Guild member and create the map they 'commission' from you.
We've got an amazing response with over 17 teams (34 mappers) entered so far! The challenge is running till 17th March, so there's still plenty of time to enter. If you're looking for a partner, just post in the Intro Thread, and we'll see what we can do.
Check out all the maps in the Challenge Folder.
Atlas Awards
It's Atlas Awards time again! If you're new to the site, the Atlas Awards are the Guild's annual recognition of the best maps of the previous year. Check out our winners from 2017 and 2018.
Nomination threads are open, and we invite you to post your own nominations. Head here to see the current nominations.
Just a quick reminder on some of the rules for nominating...
1. You can see all eligible maps here (Note, this is an image heavy page, probably best viewed on a desktop/laptop PC, rather than a mobile device.)
2. You only have one nomination per category, and you can't nominate something if it's been nominated already in that category (though you can nominate in a different category, if applicable.)
3. Post your nomination in the relevant nomination thread. Please include the map name and artist, and be sure to include a link to the original thread in Finished Maps, and not the image file.
4. Nominations close 3rd March.
If you have a question, please ask in the main Intro Thread. Please use the nomination threads only for posting map nominations, and not discussion.
Maps of the Month
In case you missed them, here are a few highlights posted in 'Finished Maps' during January.
- Village of Arningen, by Chlodowech
- Against All Flags, by MistyBeee
- Übermorgenland, by Abu Lafia
- Ruins of Morra Khan, by Voolf
- New maps from J.Edward: 'Nor-Modul', 'Gate of Tomhagar' and 'Tomb of Aznurhradi'
- Two maps from JO: The Smuggler's lair (Tavernier's tutorial), and The Old Watch Inn (Tavernier's style).
- Frostheim, by tainotim
- The World of Eochora, by Tom
- Two maps from Caenwyr: HMSS Malthea's Dagger - Last Frigate of the RCS Class, and Vystrigg Harbour
- Shandar: Lands of the Exhalted, by Diamond
- Clan Lands of Qrüché, by Daelin
Around the web
Some links for your reading/viewing pleasure.
- From The Guardian, 'Off the chart: the big comeback of paper maps'
- Patreon CEO says the company's generous business model is not sustainable as it sees rapid growth, news article from CNBC.
- Two articles from Atlas Obscura, 'A Map of the World’s Mammals for People Who Liked to Wear Them', and 'It’s Not Easy to Map the 100 Largest Islands in the World
- From GeoLounge, 'A Brief Look at Medieval Maps and Travel Guides'
- Wacom have created a new, more affordable Cintiq. Here's a review from Gizmodo
- From National Geographic, 'How Mapmakers Make Mountains Rise Off the Page'
- If you're creating a fantasy world, have you considered creating a wiki to keep track of the details? Tor.com has a 'how to' article. And another article from Tor, 'Mapping the Stars for Fun and Profit'
- 'Why every ski trail map looks the same', from Fast Company
- What Maps Reveal About America's Hidden Past
- From Open Culture, 'Vintage Geological Maps Get Turned Into 3D Topographical Wonders'
- The United Pixels of America: 8-bit Map of the USA
- 'Abstract Aerial Photos Highlight the Fragile Beauty of Earth’s Waterways'. Some beautiful photos!
- Fun Twitter thread on maps in books with some nice pics!
- 'Sketch the City' Fantastic sketch-style 3D renderings of a few of the world's cities
- From Creative Bloq, '19 great places to download fonts for free'
- From Design Boom, 'Sketch artist creates incredibly detailed depictions of united kingdom’s 69 cities'
- Bangert: Twist of fate brings rare 1841 Lafayette map from pawn shop back to library
- From Oxford's Bodleian Libraries, Twitter thread on a couple of pieces from their map collections. And from the Bodleian Map Room's blog, 'Golden Globes'.
- 'Average Earth from Space' Collection of satellite images
- The Equal Earth map, released into the public domain
Some mapping eye candy...
- An anciente mappe of Fairyland : newly discovered and set forth
- Two attractive Chinese maps from LoC: 'Pictorial map of Beijing made about 1888' and 'Panoramic view of the 13 tombs of the Ming emperors from 1736'.
- From Reddit, 'Provincial Parks on Vancouver Island ca.1976-1978' and 'The town of Luxembourg around the 13th century'
That's all for this month. Look out for the next round-up early March. Thanks for reading!
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