The Spheres of Albion - WIP

[The_Buce]

Hey folks, I need your help!

I wanted to try something new, so - after having seen so many awesome star-maps on here - I thought it would be cool to get a little out of my comfort zone and have a go at one myself!

I envisaged a tight group of stars in which a grand old empire ruled. It's a bit Firefly with some Steampunk mixed in, not to mention more than a smidgeon of fantasy. The empire is that of Albion and their domain is sorted into the inner and outer spheres - in the middle of which sits the star of Albion herself. There is also Elmesi space; a sub-sector ruled by an ancient despot, subservient to Her Imperial Majesty, from which the strange, rough, sky-skinned Elmeson come. The Elmeson are servants to the imperials; servants who hold a deep dark secret in the very star-stuff they are made from...

I wanted the map to be more like the legendary London Underground map; not to scale or true for any distance, but more a lose representation of the ancient pathways between the stars and other heavenly bodies and how they sir in relation to the greater empire.

I started out pretty basic with a b+w outline. The different shapes represent stars, colonies, space stations and mining stations (the small ones with arrows coming from them are the colonies/stations). The lines represent Pathways between the stars - methods of travelling faster than light to reach a destination. You'll notice that not all stars are linked - some only connect to one other body.

Once I'd got the outline, I popped in some text and tried a few different backgrounds/styles. This is where I start needing help...

SofA_basicoutline.jpgSofA_scifi.jpgSofA_oldstyle.jpg

I'm STUCK! I don't know what to do next or where to progress from here!
FYI; I'm using a Note 10.1 tablet with Autodesk Sketchbook.

Please help me! What else do I put on here? Are the icons clear enough? Have I set my sights too high? Is the whole endeavour just... pants?!

Thanks guys!

Jamie

[Domino44]

Fist of all that's a really cool idea. I love star maps, I made one not long ago but it has a lot different style and feel then this one. I think for one your map needs to tell more of the story you have created around it. After reading your description it is a lot cooler then just seeing your map. I think that your map need to tell that story, if you can stylize it and give it that visual description, it could be much better.

I don't know if I can help you with what details to add but I know that you need more details and they need to tell the story. Good luck!

[Ilanthar]

Nice start! As Domino44, I like syfy & star maps a lot.

I like the idea of the "blue print" in the middle, but the color are too strong for me. The other ones are fine but have a less original background, imho.

[Lingon]

That's very nice! I like the parchment version, it's unusual for a star map and seems to fit the background. As for what to do next, I'm not sure anything more needs to be done. A font change perhaps, a frame if you want… detail work. And the font thing is a matter of taste, so…

[AuthorParmain]

Good job, man. Those star maps look really interesting. How are you conquering the difficulty of representing 3 dimensional coordinates in 2 dimensional space? I've been thinking of using a set point and a positive or negative integer to represent relative height along the central plane.