Wanted to try out a few new things (some of which worked, and some didn't) but this is the end result. There's no particular story behind the map, it's just an experiment. And I wanted a really grubby parchment paper that looked like it'd been through the wars. (I think I succeeded with that!!)
Probably goes without saying, but I didn't do the cartouche & the boats myself. Mr. Joan Blaeu gets credit for those (from the Atlas of Scotland). Can't help but wonder what a cartographer from nearly 400 years ago would make of people using his stuff today?!
wybyrn.jpg
Any feedback is appreciated.
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"
Very nice, ChickPea, I think you succeeded with the dark dirty parchment look I really like your choice of fonts, too, they match the map very well. Excellent job!
Looks really nice. I like what you have done with the parchment. Maybe you could add some effect to north and south ocean lettering since they seem too...clean..for the map, given the 'bad' state of the parchment. The smaller lettering seems ok but those big ones stand out a little.
Cheers,
Barek
I'm allergic to pollen! - Amaranthus hypochondriacus
Looks nice Chickpea! Probably a bit dark overall and many labels looks a bit too small.
Really like your treatment of the forest and the area type
I defer to snodsy, but I think the type fits very well. Lots of the time it looks like ink soaked into the parchment, which is great. There's even a little smudge on the final 's' of the Sovereign Mountains. No matter what you say I will believe it is on purpose.
Now. I don't know where you got all the names but there are a lot of little towns here and it just kind of made a whole bunch of little stories start firing off in my head. The names are consistent and evocative. I get a real sense of a delightful rural culture here.
"So I woz visitin' old Mr. Wagley…"
"Oh, aye, in Longhearst?"
"No, no… the Windgate Wagley's."
"Ah yes, haha. Them Longhearst Wagley's smell o' fish."
I really like maps when they make me imagine people living in them.
cheers,
Meshon
Meshon's Cobblestone Streets tutorial
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Ha, probably! Three cheers for the public domain.
Thanks, Chick. Those are my new favourite fonts and I'll be using them again and again and again...
Thanks, Barek. Yeah, I wasn't too sure about the ocean labels. I wasn't completely happy with the placement of all the objects around the edge of the map, to be honest, but wanted to get finished. I agree however, that the larger labels are a little too clean and 'refined' compared to the rest.
Cheers, Max! I did wonder if the labelling was a little on the small side but figured that, since it was for screen and not print, it'd do.
Thanks, Snodsy. I enjoy reading your dissections of the typography used on maps and hoped you'd chime in!
What smudge... eh, yeah ... I totally meant that!
May I present the Elizabethan place name generator. Guaranteed period charm!Now. I don't know where you got all the names but there are a lot of little towns here and it just kind of made a whole bunch of little stories start firing off in my head. The names are consistent and evocative. I get a real sense of a delightful rural culture here.
http://www.inkalicious.com/elizabethan.html
Thanks for comments/feedback, everyone. Much appreciated.
Last edited by ChickPea; 10-19-2015 at 07:55 AM.
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"
This is indeed a lovely map ChickPea! It's fits all together very nicely in my view, especially noteworthy are the "imported" ships and the cartouche here i think. Often such elements look too much "copypasted" on maps to me. You did a great job there. One tiny nitpick: The edges of the parchment (wich is excellently textured btw.!) look a bit too "regular". As if an army of ants taking a nice bite at the same moment. Next an anteater appears and only those really hungry guys where taking the risk to stay for another chunk . Well, as i said it's really not too problematic in my view, but i'm myself always trying to get this artificial ruggedness/brokenness etc. done, so it just came to my mind.
Cheers,
AL
PS: thanks for the name generator, it looks rerally fun...
Thanks for the comments, Abu.
Haha, yes, you're absolutely correct about hungry ants, uh, the edges being too regular! I should really have spent more time on that. I considered having a big tear somewhere in the map at one point, or maybe some wrinkled folds, but I never quite got round to it. I'll blame Bogie for posting the next Lite Challenge, because that I meant I needed to finish up quickly.
Appreciate the feedback and hope you can use the name generator. I kept pressing the button to generate more, and some of them were awesome. Think this will be my go-to name generator from now on.
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"