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somethingaboutmaps

somethingaboutmaps
Take the 2024 Freelance Mapper Survey Friends and colleagues, it’s time once again for the survey that Aly Ollivierre and I conduct every...
10 months ago
116
10 months ago
Friends and colleagues, it’s time once again for the survey that Aly Ollivierre and I conduct every two years. We ask people who do freelance mapping work about their fees and other business practices, in order to help bring more transparency to our little niche of the world, and...
somethingaboutmaps
Automated Hachuring in QGIS I seem to have accidentally come up with a method for duplicating a centuries-old terrain...
6 months ago
103
6 months ago
I seem to have accidentally come up with a method for duplicating a centuries-old terrain representation technique. If you’ve looked at old maps, you’ve probably seen hachures: lines that run up and down along the slope of terrain features. There were a wide variety of approaches...
somethingaboutmaps
My Decade with Blender It occurs to me that I have been Blendering for a long time. In fact, it’s been almost exactly a...
9 months ago
103
9 months ago
It occurs to me that I have been Blendering for a long time. In fact, it’s been almost exactly a decade since I gave my first public presentation on the technique of generating shaded relief using Blender. And in that time, the method has been adopted far more widely than I could...
somethingaboutmaps
On the Practice of Wobbling We live in an era in which maps (and plenty of other graphics) are made with digital tools....
a year ago
102
a year ago
We live in an era in which maps (and plenty of other graphics) are made with digital tools. Workflows vary, but the end result is that a lot of us base our cartography entirely on clean vector shapes and neat raster grids. For example, I talked earlier this year about a map I...
somethingaboutmaps
Another Atlas of Minor Projects A few years ago, I compiled a PDF of various small odds-and-ends mapping projects that I’d done....
a year ago
89
a year ago
A few years ago, I compiled a PDF of various small odds-and-ends mapping projects that I’d done. Now, I’ve done it again. Please enjoy Another Atlas of Minor Projects, which houses a few dozen cartographic items that needed a home. These are all small, mostly-quick projects that...
somethingaboutmaps
An Educational Experiment (Edit: sign-ups are now closed. I received over 150 responses for 4 available slots, which has been...
a year ago
79
a year ago
(Edit: sign-ups are now closed. I received over 150 responses for 4 available slots, which has been great but overwhelming. I may offer this again in the future if it goes well, so make sure to follow me on Twitter and subscribe to the blog, to be notified of when this happens.)...
somethingaboutmaps
Conventional Cartographic Wisdom that I have Failed to Grasp When I teach cartography, I am deliberate about not presenting my students with any rules. I do not...
a year ago
78
a year ago
When I teach cartography, I am deliberate about not presenting my students with any rules. I do not want obedience to memorized maxims — instead, I simply tell them about practices that I think are good ideas, and then I offer an explanation of my reasoning. The students can...
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Connections: A Very Nerdy Poster Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something...
over a year ago
72
over a year ago
Friends, I’m excited to offer to you a new poster. Not a map this time around, but something map-related. A 16 × 24-inch tangled web showing how 100+ different map projections are all related to each other: Projections are a niche topic even among cartographers, so I don’t...
somethingaboutmaps
Challenging the Idea of a Bad Map We’re just a couple of weeks away from the 30 Day Map Challenge, an annual celebration of...
a year ago
70
a year ago
We’re just a couple of weeks away from the 30 Day Map Challenge, an annual celebration of cartographic creativity. I know some of you are already brainstorming about what you might do this year. Each day has a prompt, and you’re encouraged to make a map that day that is based on...
somethingaboutmaps
Leopard Map Disassembly Friends, it’s been a long while since I last wrote up a walkthrough of one of my mapping projects....
a year ago
63
a year ago
Friends, it’s been a long while since I last wrote up a walkthrough of one of my mapping projects. So, today, let’s break down a piece that I made earlier this year for Scientific American magazine. This is actually the first of three pieces that I’ve made for Scientific American...
somethingaboutmaps
The Unnecessary Peril of the Fuller Projection Throughout my career, I’ve heard a variety of rumors and conflicting opinions about whether or not...
over a year ago
61
over a year ago
Throughout my career, I’ve heard a variety of rumors and conflicting opinions about whether or not you can get in trouble for using the Fuller projection. Let's find out if it's true.
somethingaboutmaps
Simple Oblique Views in Blender While many people use my Blender shaded relief tutorial, and associate me with the software, I’m...
over a year ago
60
over a year ago
While many people use my Blender shaded relief tutorial, and associate me with the software, I’m really not much of a 3D cartographer. I make oblique-view maps only rarely, and when I do, it’s usually in a simplified, abstract style, rather than the detailed, naturalistic...
somethingaboutmaps
Thoughts on Practical Cartographic Education While I have not conducted a formal survey, I think I have the right impression when I say that most...
over a year ago
60
over a year ago
While I have not conducted a formal survey, I think I have the right impression when I say that most university cartography courses, at least in the United States, are taught by people whose primary job (when they are not teaching) is not the regular production of maps. These...
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Cards I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and...
over a year ago
58
over a year ago
I had a whimsical idea a few months ago: map projection trading cards. Something nerdy and map-related that you could collect and exchange at conferences. I poked around at some design ideas for a while, and here’s what I’ve come up with so far. This is the front side of the...
somethingaboutmaps
2024 Freelance Rate Survey Results Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer...
4 months ago
55
4 months ago
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer rates and business practices! Our apologies for the delay in posting the results; life has been busy for both Aly and myself. Before we get to the survey results, here are some handy...
somethingaboutmaps
A New Take on an Old Style Gentle readers, I have some exciting things to share with you. After several months of tinkering and...
3 months ago
53
3 months ago
Gentle readers, I have some exciting things to share with you. After several months of tinkering and toolmaking, I have created a series of posters of iconic peaks (and other terrain), illustrated in a sketch style inspired by old hachure drawings. There are 37 designs to choose...
somethingaboutmaps
A Free eBook of Terrain Lines Friends, earlier this week I mentioned that I’d completed a whole bunch of terrain sketches using...
3 months ago
48
3 months ago
Friends, earlier this week I mentioned that I’d completed a whole bunch of terrain sketches using some novel techniques that allowed me to create a hachure drawing style from digital elevation data. If you’d like to see the whole set, I’ve now assembled them into a quick eBook...
somethingaboutmaps
The Projection Collection Returns About a year ago, I released The Projection Collection, a set of 77 trading cards based on map...
a year ago
47
a year ago
About a year ago, I released The Projection Collection, a set of 77 trading cards based on map projections. Each card features a unique map produced by one of 65 different cartographers. While my colleagues and I did our best to let everyone know about these cards, some people...
somethingaboutmaps
A New, Unrelated Blog Kindly readers: I wanted to let you know that I’ve started another little publication, one which has...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
Kindly readers: I wanted to let you know that I’ve started another little publication, one which has nothing to do with maps, but I figure is worth telling you about anyway: I climb trees recreationally, and I’ve decided to start writing about my thoughts and experiences. Perhaps...
somethingaboutmaps
2022 Freelancer Survey Results Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s survey of freelance cartographer rates and business practices! Herein, you will find the results of the survey, sliced into a few different charts and visuals, all crafted by my survey partner Aly Ollivierre. For...
somethingaboutmaps
The Dream Lives I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you...
2 months ago
45
2 months ago
I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you can support by giving me money. And I promise I’ll get back to less commercial musings as time goes on. But for now, I also want to alert you to a way you can give other people...
somethingaboutmaps
Kickstarter 3: The Return For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a...
2 months ago
45
2 months ago
For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a number of projects based on this technique (including my favorite item I’ve ever made). Now, I’ve decided to take my recent work in developing terrain sketches, and turn it into a new...
somethingaboutmaps
Projection Cards: Now a Reality A couple months back, I floated an idea for making some fun trading cards based on map projections....
over a year ago
44
over a year ago
A couple months back, I floated an idea for making some fun trading cards based on map projections. I’m very happy to report that several dozen of you responded and contributed designs to help make the set happen. I’ve been spending several weeks on managing everyone and working...
somethingaboutmaps
Journey’s End Nearly five years ago, I completed a project that, to my mind, remains the most significant of my...
a month ago
37
a month ago
Nearly five years ago, I completed a project that, to my mind, remains the most significant of my cartographic career: An Atlas of Great Lakes Islands, manually printed in cyanotype, with a hand-stitched binding. I wanted to share this project with all of you, but there were only...
somethingaboutmaps
Getting Local: A Map Disassembly Though it’s only been a couple of months since the last time I did a map breakdown, I feel like it’s...
a year ago
17
a year ago
Though it’s only been a couple of months since the last time I did a map breakdown, I feel like it’s time for another. While my own instincts are to avoid repetition, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my YouTube-watching habits, it’s that a creator can put out a regular...
somethingaboutmaps
Independent Study: A Reflection Earlier this summer, I decided to embark on an educational experiment: I wanted to create a version...
a year ago
15
a year ago
Earlier this summer, I decided to embark on an educational experiment: I wanted to create a version of the independent study groups that I used to co-teach when I was at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in which students would work on a mapping project, and meet weekly for...
somethingaboutmaps
Going Live I know it’s short notice, but I wanted to let you all know that I’m doing a livestream tomorrow....
3 days ago
5
3 days ago
I know it’s short notice, but I wanted to let you all know that I’m doing a livestream tomorrow. It’s been well over 2½ years since my last one. I’ll be covering a few monochrome maps I made for an upcoming book. Please come on by to ask questions, offer feedback, and share your...