Everybody just loves a pen and ink stipple effect. It’s charming, it’s warm, it’s handsome, it’s tactile. It says, say, want to sit on the couch and I’ll read to you from your well-worn copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends? I’ve tried out the stipple effect in maps (here and here) that I’ve hand-drawn (yes, and so should … Continue reading Pen and Ink
April 29 (and bits of April 30, depending on where you live) kicks off the first How To Do Map Stuff live-stream map demo jam fest. Organized by Daniel Huffman, it is a way for we map nerds to connect with each other in this strange time of social distancing. But we can be as … Continue reading How To Do Map Stuff
Here is a set of maps made to look like cross-stitched samplers. You can use the style, too, if you’d like. Or read about its making here. Here is a real cross-stitch I made when I was a kid. Happy Stitching! John Also, here is that hoop stretcher graphic, if you want to lay it … Continue reading Sampler
Here’s a way to hack an ambient hillshade effect in ArcGIS Pro using traditional hillshade and slope applied to blurred DEMs. Here’s the result: Here is this technique applied to Northern Michigan. Using this an an overlay blend mode (in Adobe) atop imagery gives a pretty attractive result. Continue reading Ambient-ish Hillshade
Even the smallest map can change the course of the future. Download the latest version of the My Precious style for ArcGIS Pro and press your quill to the parchment of your imagination. This version has several improvements over the original, to make your Middle Earth maps better and easier… Improved symbol scale for better looking and more consistent … Continue reading My Precious
I drafted this blog post a while ago, before social distancing recommendations, then mandates, came to the United States. It is not written specifically in light of of our current epidemiological condition. But hopefully there are some tips and insights that might be helpful for folks who already work remotely and to others who will … Continue reading Working Well Remotely
Getting an ArcGIS Online web map rolling using something other than the standard Web Mercator can be a challenge, especially if you are in a hurry. Here are some pre-made maps in an equal area projection as a head start to making your global/regional web maps . It’s an important consideration for thematic maps. Here … Continue reading Equal Area Starter Web Maps for Global and Regional Thematic Mapping
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index helps emergency response planners and public health officials identify and map the communities that will most likely need support before, during, and after a hazardous event. Given the drastic rise in the #COVIDー19 mortality rate after age 60, US counties with a higher proportion of … Continue reading Social Vulnerability, Age, and Coronavirus
This map of Swiss landscapes was make to be reminiscent of the mid-century pen-and-ink landform maps of Erwin Raisz. The background is a repeating poster-print texture applied to a big polygon that covers the whole world. I started with water polygons and gave them a hatched fill with an alternating texture to get a bit … Continue reading Condensed How-To: Raisz-Inspired Landscapes of Switzerland
Here is a map of Switzerland done in an Eduard Imhof-inspired style. The topography uses an impressionistic palette of greens and ochers for the terrain lighting and shading, and has an atmospheric perspective shift to muted green tones in lower elevations. Similar to a previous version, but with an updated style resource and additional features. … Continue reading Condensed How-To: Updated Imhof-Style Map of Switzerland
