Adventures In Mapping

Here is a small collection of watercolor hachure maps using the Chevalier Shade technique of hillshading. Continue reading Chevalier Shade

This map uses the CMYK subtractive blending method to encode the rates of Smoking, Obesity, and Excessive Drinking into a single map. The source data tables come from the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program and is available in geographic form here. It’s a lot to chew on. I’ll discuss below… The topmost graphic is … Continue reading CMYK Vice

This week I’ll be rocketing down to the NACIS 2018 conference, which is one of my favorite weeks of the year. In a Practical Cartography Day whirlwind session I’ll talk about a code-free workflow to make contours know which direction they are facing (illuminated contours, Tanaka contours, etc.), so they give a better sense of … Continue reading Aspect-Aware Contours

Here is a map showing the top ten most popular US National parks, by recreation visitor count. The parks are presented to scale, for a sense of comparative size.     Here are some resources for making maps that look like this, if you are so inclined or just curious. I like this topographic treatment … Continue reading The Ten Most Visited US National Parks

I’m excited to make my first trip to Scotland to speak at the Esri UK’s Scottish Conference. Shortly after I’ll be winding down to London to chat with fellow map nerds in a less formal venue. If you are in that area, and are inclined, I’ll see you there! Both events are free, by the … Continue reading Scotland

On a recent trip to the Netherlands I had some chats about reviving a vintage style of Dutch waterway navigation and planning printed maps for use with current, digital, data. The inspiration came from Dirkzwager’s Guide, a book of local waterway maps. Turns out the Dutch are really interested in waterway planning and the modifiable … Continue reading New Amsterdam Style