Unnamed - Various Styles

[aeronox]

Please change this topic title to "Unnamed - Various Styles" thx

Took about 4 hours to colour the map (attached)... This will be the 'pretty' version of my map while the other greyscale one is for quick reference.

When it comes time to put a civilisation overlay on it, I may have to reduce the contrast of all the natural layers.

I have made this at twice the resolution of the attached image - which itself is half the resolution of my master copy (which is also the size of the greyscale one).

[aeronox]

..and a compass rose to go with it:

[aeronox]

Some lettering...

I've started naming places, using names from another world I've made. Just to see what typeface I'd use, and what colours.

[Eilathen]

Again...great maps! I really like your style.

The only thing that bothers me a bit is that the yellow/orange colour comes off too strong/aggressiv ... I'd bleach it to a softer tone. But that is just personal taste.

[mmmmmpig]

careful with the fonts, you don't want to lose readability. That font for the large area names is close to unreadable.

[aeronox]

Eilathen: which yellow/orange? On the title/compass or the desert?

mmmpig: thanks, I'm still trying other fonts. I have over 500 so it takes forever to go through them

[Midgardsormr]

I like the vibrant colors for this map; they give it a kind of adventurous flair. It's bold and exciting and doesn't take itself too seriously.

The trouble with the font is that the capitals are decorative--they work great if they're used as starting caps, but not so well when used to make an entire word. I think AlgerianBas would work well. You can find Algerian on some free font sites, but it has a drop shadow for some reason. The Base version doesn't have the shadow.

[aeronox]

I like the vibrant colors for this map; they give it a kind of adventurous flair. It's bold and exciting and doesn't take itself too seriously.

Thanks
The objective is to create a map that is colourful, stylistic, yet still have accurate details (I mean, if it shows dense forest, then it's dense forest). It is useable. It isn't something that one of the world's inhabitants created; I made it, the author, to portray a vibrant world. In this respect I believe the bright orange BOLTSS components is suitable.

The trouble with the font is that the capitals are decorative--they work great if they're used as starting caps, but not so well when used to make an entire word. I think AlgerianBas would work well. You can find Algerian on some free font sites, but it has a drop shadow for some reason. The Base version doesn't have the shadow.

I've been aware of Algerian for many years, but never liked it. I have altered the fonts and colours, and added sea/river examples, and some routes.

Rivers are particularly tricky: how to get a very small-size text readable, but not stand out, is difficult. Placing a label on those mountains is hard.. I don't like going too vertical, nor splitting the words up too much.

I did paint some borderlines in, but decided against it, at least for this region. It's sparsely populated, therefore little national conflict, hence borders are meaningless and arbitrary. Amarkin is the largest nation - and Luthea is also very large. The rest will be much smaller, and will involve conflict.

[Eilathen]

Eilathen: which yellow/orange? On the title/compass or the desert?

The desert yellow/orange. It just comes off too strong for my taste...especially considering the more subtle greens. But as i said, this is just a matter of taste...and if you want the map to look more "modern art"-style, then this is doing it, i'd say

[pyrandon]

I have a couple geographical questions to consider. And please feel free to correct me (anyone) for I am not in any even tiny way a geographer--just a guy who likes art and maps.

First, are there enough rivers and water to support such a lush area as is depicted? Normally, this sort of place will have many, many, many both justifying the "green" and explaining where the rain goes that supports it. This will depend upon the scale, of course, but judging from your moutnains and such it seems a valid question.

Also, you have lakes fed by rivers, but no other outlets. This is, of course, possible, but without odd/unique circumstances, won't river-fed lakes overflow into streams and such running into the sea. (I pose this question mainly because I live by the Great Lakes, but I am unsure and will do some checking).

I really must compliment you on your mountain texture; it is one of the few cases in which I really, really like the use of PS's powers in this regard: they look very believable and not like big crumpled pieces of papers or chiseled blobs. But, you include no other elevations, such as hills, valleys, and such. It seems highly unlikely to me that there would be mountains on flat plains (though, of course, it's possible.)

Finally, I agree with the others that the color choices are about 10% too bright. I like how vibrant things are, but this is just a hair's breadth over the edge, IMO.

I hope these questions--even if completely rejected by you--were at least a tad helpful. You have a nice style. I likey!