*** May 2011 Challenge Voting - Map a Nation ***

[jtougas]

This was the toughest decision I've had to make in one of these challenges yet. The caliber of work from everyone was just great. In the end I went like this:
(In no particular order)

Ravells: I thought this was just great. It had a wonderful "feel"
Diamond: Awesome as usual and this one had a great story (which is always the "kicker" for me)
RE: Even without the little girls suggestion I would have voted for this. It's got a great look and it's fun what more can you ask for?

I'll be spreading the rep around as everyone's entry is great. Thanks for all the kind words and feedback on my entry as well

[Ascension]

Lots of good stuff this month...makes for tough choices. I went with Diamond and Ravells for they way they make me feel, makes me want to adventure. PlumCrazy looks the most professionally mappy to me so that got my third vote. Sapiento, RjBeals, and Clercon got my honourable mentions.

[moutarde]

If only we could have voted for 6 instead of three! Ended throwing my votes to Diamond, Plumcrazy and JBGibson, but I really wanted to give votes to Ravells, Lalaithon and Master TMO as well. All of them very nice and interesting maps.

[rdanhenry]

This was a tough one! Lots of really good entries this time.

[Diamond]

RJ, Sap, and Ascension got my votes. There were five more I wanted to vote for though. Gah, too many good choices this month...

I'll add rep when I get home from my mini-vacation on Tuesday.

[ravells]

As rdanhenry said, it was a tough one this month:

Votes to Diamond (great composition and lovely mountains), Sapiento (fantastic scale, quirky trees, lovely colours and a cool volcano), DJspeck (tells a wonderful story). So many 'nearly there's' for me, and I would have probably voted for them on a different day, including Ascension's 'Indiana Jones' Map, RJ Beal's beautiful colours, Clercon's muted colours and others.

Great competition this month, it's really nice when there's a lot of interest and entries.

[Clercon]

many great entries this month. I voted for Ravells, Sapiento and Diamond. But it was very hard to decide. Maybe we should have had 5 votes this month with so many competitors.

[Redrobes]

Lots of really good maps to choose from - 3 votes is not enough. So for those that don't win its a tough month. For the cartographer who does it will be a well deserved one.

[Master TMO]

Lol. This is my first one of these, and I keep checking it and rechecking. I am such a newb sometimes. I appreciate the feedback both positive and negative, and I'll make full use of the advice in later creations.

But I think there's a bug in the polling software - the votes for my map aren't getting tallied. I'm just sure there should be at least a dozen or so by now.

I'm looking forward to the next challenge that fits my skillset. This was fun, if occasionally vexing and frustrating.

[RjBeals]

Seems everyone was buggin for a competition this month!

MY VOTES:

jbgibson - As raw as this is, I like it a lot. Your territories are perfect and I love the color tones to break them apart. This could be a political map in a text book, and nobody would question it! nice work. Map a nation? Yep - you did it!

ravells - I love this one. The fancy map border alone is awesome. Everything is so soft, it sort of blends together - but looking closer, there's tons of details buried in this map. I even like that hatched red border. And the forests fit perfectly - tree thingy at it's best! check!

Djekspek - I don't think there's anything I've seen you create that I haven't drooled over. Why aren't you famous? I wasn't sure the iso style would work for the "nation" map, but I still have to give it to you. The map is just gorgeous. You don't have the map detail some of the others have, but I just love it anyway. I'm glad you participate in these comps and this site. You get my vote!

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HONORABLE MENTION:

jtougas - cool island layout. The script labels look formal, although a bit hard to read. The borders look a bit pixilated or a bit noisy. Cool lighting, nice colors. I'm glad you brought the grunge down a bit - looks great.

Sapiento - Love the squid. This map has a good shot of winning, for good reason. It's freakin awesome. I think the only thing that bugs is how scattered the trees are. I'm pretty sure this is tree thing also. The mountain ranges are perfect however. And so many cool details just scrolling across the map. Cliffs, temples, all those villages... Nice map.

Diamond - Composition A+. As you started this map, I never imagined that big blank area on the right would end up like this. You sir, are a creative genius. I envy that. You are on a mapping roll.

Ascension - awesome texture and just general layout. looks like a google earth satellite image. I'm just not a fan of the plane - but hey, thats just me. Great colors and lighting.