VOTING TIME April/May '23 Lite Challenge: Map a historical portion of your hometown.

[Bogie]

VOTING TIME April/May '23 Lite Challenge: Map a historical portion of your hometown.
This month's Lite Challenge was to create a map based on a historical or famous portion of your hometown.

Check out the Thumbnails of all these entries, but don't forget to click on each one so you can see them at full size.

CLICK HERE for Challenge Thumbnails & Large maps

Be Sure to Check The Full Size Maps, don't just look at the thumbnails.

We have 2 interesting entries so just vote your favorite.

The voting will last for 3 days and the winner will receive a shiny silver compass!

Regardless of who you vote for, please don't forget to REP everyone who you feel deserves it.


Sorry about the prior confusion, I fell asleep at the computer while creating the thread.

[Straf]

It sounds like you're pushing yourself a bit too hard Bogie. I'm sure I'm not alone in appreciating everything you do here and running the Lite Challenge each month. You put a lot of work in encouraging participants as well as making it happen.

Look after yourself my friend.

[Henkmet]

Thanks for organising, Bogie. I agree with Straf, take care of yourself!

[GrimFinger]

Are we allowed to talk about, in this thread, why we chose to cast our respective votes, as we did (or will do)?

If so, should we wait until the voting period comes to an end?

Or will this thread be closed for further discussion, once the voting ends?

[Straf]

This thread is as good as any to discuss the entries. Share your thoughts as you please

[Bogie]

Are we allowed to talk about, in this thread, why we chose to cast our respective votes, as we did (or will do)?

If so, should we wait until the voting period comes to an end?

Or will this thread be closed for further discussion, once the voting ends?

As Straf said, If you wish to share your thoughts, and/or constructive criticism, this is the place. We learn from each other.
This thread will not be closed after the voting ends, but it will be moved to the archive after a short while (translated as "when I get around to it" )

[Henkmet]

If you have feedback on my map, please don't hesitate. It's the first I actually finish (more or less) so lots to improve.

And since Straf gave green light: What I like about the Boudicca map is that it is clear and uncluttered. The text to the side really adds something to it and though the border is just a black line, it is effective.

[GrimFinger]

Very well.

Initially, I pondered not casting a vote for either entry. Why? Because neither entry impressed themselves upon me to any great degree. I can't say that I particularly like either of the two entries.

Which is not to say that there is nothing that I like about either entry. Of the two, I consider Henkmet's map to be the more aesthetically-pleasing. Far more so. Yet, ultimately, I didn't cast my vote for it. Rather, I ended up casting my vote for Straf's entry.

When I went to cast my vote, after deciding to actually participate in this particular map election (which I predicated the decision to participate in the vote upon my growing desire to participate in the site more broadly - which is another story for another day, perhaps), I was actually going to cast my vote for Henkmet's map. Ain't it strange how reality actually works, though? Things have a way of taking strange twists.

In Straf's Boudicca's Temple thread, where he posted his work in progress, I was put off by Straf's remark of, "I had a bash at producing my own illustration for the site but it was going to take far too long so I've lifted one from some literature. That remark, alone, almost cost Straf any chance at getting a vote from me. Why? It wasn't any potential copyright qualm (of which there wouldn't be one, if the illustration in question had already fallen into the public domain (I'm actually quite a big fan of repurposing work that has fallen into the public domain). Rather, I was far and away more interested in seeing what Straf could come up with on his own. It's his own creativity that I was more interested in.

The "faded down map showing the town as it is currently is the property of Ordnance Survey and The Crown" of which Straf spoke in that very same thread was, for myself at least, too faded. Ack! When in doubt, always choose clarity over the lack thereof. Not that Straf had any doubt, necessarily, but when I would view Straf's map, over and over and over, again, I did. I experienced many a doubt about the end map that Straf brought to the table. To a large degree, I felt that the whole episode ended up being a sorely missed opportunity on Straf's part. Yet, when all was said and done, I ended up voting for Straf's map, anyway.

But why, you ask?

Good question! A very good question, indeed!

But first, let me comment about Henkmet's map a bit, if I may. There were numerous different times that I poured over both entries, Henkmet's included. At a glance, his would surely be the winner. And why not? After all, Straf's decision to go with a faded background map all but ensured that Henkmet's map would stand out all the more. And there certainly seemed (to me, anyway) to be a lot more effort put into the crafting of Henkmet's map than Straf's map. The abundance of line work, alone, demonstrated that, on its own merits. I've long since lost count of how many times that I clicked on each map, to zoom in closer. Many are the times that my eyes wandered these two cartographic entries.

When all was said and done, suffice it to say that I found myself a bit underwhelmed. Even now, I'm not entirely sure that I made the right decision, when I cast my vote. Nothing quite like second-guessing one's own self, eh? But much as with political elections in the real world, at some point I have to cast my vote, and if I ultimately in the long run believe that I have erred, then I leave that to future instances of voting to right the ship, so to speak.

And yes, I do actually wonder, currently, whether I picked the wrong horse in this race. It's quite the dilemma, but the moment of decision often has a way of forcing us to choose between the lesser of cartographic evils, does it not?

The great irony, of course, is that my perception that a little more effort could have gone a really lone way with both of these maps may be error, itself. This decision was not a cartographic crisis for me. It's a friendly little contest, and the fate of the world doesn't hang in the balance. And in any instance, could I have done any better than either or both of these two entries? Most assuredly, I likely could not.

On Henkmet's map, his choice of Legenda was pretty much a pitchfork in my eye. Just look at all of that mass of wasted space above and below it. Whatever could Henkmet have been thinking? Space - empty space - is a part of the overall visual canvas, you see. Large expanses of empty space naturally draw the human eye away from the map, itself. For me, even if not for others, perhaps, this is a BIG visual no-no. Why? Because it detracts enormously from all of the effort that one does put into crafting a cartographic moment in time.

But then when I look at Straf's map entry anew, his whole combination suffers from a lack of clarity gone amok. My eye wants to focus, but his choice of a gray-speckled background just keeps on stabbing me right in both of my eyes. The scoundrel!

Ultimately, I can hang the hat of blame upon Bogie, for how I decided to hone in on how to cast my vote. Namely, wherein he posted, "This month's Lite Challenge was to create a map based on a historical or famous portion of your hometown," I focused my mind and my eyes upon the "historical or famous portion of your hometown." Thus, context matters.

And so it was that I gave the nod to Straf over Henkmet. It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and as far as the portion of the respective hometowns that was presented for one and all to see, my eyes quickly zoomed in on Straf's portion more than Henkmet's portion. At that point, it was done deal, for me.

And that would be that, if it weren't for the epilogue.

EPILOGUE

So, here's the thing about looking at the same map(s), over and over and over, again. And I don't mean simply in order to appreciate them for their aesthetic contributions to mankind's collective legacy. But rather, when you look at the same map(s) a lot, in one instance, you're looking for one thing, but in other instances, you're looking for or at other things. And this inevitably takes a visual toll on both eye and mind.

Thus, why do I now find myself doubting my own vote that I cast of my own free will?

Well, when I went to actually cast my vote, my last look at Henkmet's map, I clicked on the thumbnail, but I did not then zoom in on it further. And so it was that the multiple horizontal lines of the Waste Dumping Area and the Mining Pit did not stand out to me, as I stood at the precipice of the moment of the voting decision. Instead, what I saw were solid colors, and this robbed Henkmet's map of my ability to quickly distinguish the by-now all-important "portion" that Bogie had made reference to in his posting of this thread.

In hindsight, I now can't unsee what I didn't see, before, every time that I now look at Henkmet's map, anew. Did I not notice the multiple lines of those two Legenda/key, before? Honestly, I can't say. Perhaps I did. I probably did. But I lack certainty in the matter. No doubt, my ongoing aging perhaps plays a role in such episodes. Such a pity.

But part of the cartographer's duty is to ensure that mistakes of this nature do not happen. Nay, cannot happen!

(See what I did there?)

Regardless, when all is said and done, it was only these two cartographers who rose to the occasion of giving us, one and all, something to vote upon, at all, where the present matter is concerned. Thank you to both for the opportunity to mangle this contest with my own deficient approach to analyzing your respective handiwork. God speed to both of you on your future cartographic undertakings!

[GrimFinger]

Separate from the above, earlier on tonight, I did searches on the Internet for images, videos, and other clarification of both areas encompassed by the maps submitted for this contest of cartographic prowess.

[Henkmet]

Thanks for the very lengthy feedback, GrimFinger. I take the point on the empty space; I didn't have an idea on how to solve it. Maybe should have placed it below the map instead of by the side?

But I don't understand the point about 'multiple lines of those two Legenda/key'. Not being defensive, just asking for clarification.

Also, curious what you found about the areas.