Author: John

Here are some examples of using selective hillshading styles based on a Glaciers masking layer. Glacial hillshade is icy and non-glacial hillshade is earthy. Here’s a how-to. Southern Andes… Southern Greenland… Alaska Range… Alps… Caucasus… Western Himalayas… Continue reading Selective Hillshading

Here is a scan of a tall accordion-style journal map of the Appalachian Trail. JK, it’s all digital. If you are interested in learning how.why it was made, you can check out the nerdy how-to here. In the meantime, wouldn’t this actually be a pretty cool thing to have printed? Continue reading Appalachian Trail Map Journal

Here is a map of Panama made for a page in a book that introduces a section on Panama. It just had to be a sort of physical reference intro map…and the page is roughly square. So, with few requirements, a challenging artboard proportion, and a whim to go tilty 3D, this is my first … Continue reading A Map of Panama

Here is a vintage style poster of Yellowstone, blending a beautiful hand-drawn grayscale hillshade by Bill von Allmen in 1983, from the Shaded Relief Archive, and modern satellite imagery. I recorded it so you can join me for a highly polished professionally produced and narrated walk-through of georeferencing, coloring, and arranging this poster… So fun. … Continue reading Vintage-Style Yellowstone Poster

Here are some more lego maps from the Brickifier app. Because Lego. And maps. But then I stitched some scenes together pretty quickly, like when I’d join up those sweet green Lego base plates. They are best appreciated in a larger size (since scaling them down just makes them look like low-res imagery and the … Continue reading Lego Maps

Here are 5 tips I wrote for designers to consider while collaborating with developers. Here are 5 tips my code-slinging counterpart, Rene Rubalcava, wrote for developers to consider while they collaborate with designers. In this way the universe is in balance. Continue reading Designers and Developers

So the other day I saw this delightful teaser tweet about an upcoming Lord of the Rings series on Amazon Prime. It’s a beaut. Clearly a take-off from the Christopher Tolkien illustrated map in the sleeves of hardcover LOTR books (including my well-worn set), but with a bit more details in the features. And because … Continue reading Tattered Map Sandwich