Hi, everyone! I'm Geron.

[Shteron]

How's it going? My name is Geron. I'm somewhat new to the cartography world, having taken up the hobby by necessity for a 5e campaign that I run. As it turns out, though, I fell in love with map making almost immediately. I have a lot left to learn, but I'm eager to do so and to glean what wisdom I can from you fine folks.

I hail from interior Alaska, for what that's worth. Been here for a nearly a decade, now.

If you could give me one piece of concise advice about map making what would it be?

[Kellerica]

Hiya!

I know what you mean - when I first started mapping years ago, it was supposed to be a quick, one-time sidetrack on a larger story project I was working on. The story ended up dying almost immediately after that (I never even finished that first draft) yet here I am, still mapping like crazy

One solid advice above everything else is kind of a tall order, but my top ones would have to be:

1) study works that inspire you, and don't be afraid to shamelessly steal ideas - that's how you learn to be more creative yourself
2) use tutorials on this site, and get to know the tools you work with (in my case that would be Photoshop)
3) get yourself a working knowledge of how the basics of geography work. You don't need to a tetonic plate expert to create maps, but the basic concepts of how/where mountains form, how river flow works and some dos and don'ts of climate design will go a long way in creating a world that feels believable. (plenty of good stuff to learn from on the Guild forum on these topics as well)

(and my design oriented ass is really tempted to add stuff about good color usage, typography and decoration elements, but it these things are not really what makes a map work, even if I'm hard-pressed to admit it )

But most important of all: have fun with it! You've already discovered how much fun mapping can be, I'm sure, but trust me, it only gets better from here. The more you learn, the more satisfying it gets.
Happy mapping! So glad to have you along, welcome to the Guild!