UNIFIED MAP OF EVERYTHING

There is a lot of stuff in the universe yet most maps seem only to deal with things at the scale of streets, cities or countries. Rarely do we consider how, for example, mountains actually have an atomic structure or indeed a spatial position relative to our galaxy. Like a game of 3D chess, the tricky bit in considering ones relative place in the universe is  actually visualising all the scales of the universe?!

STICK FIGURES

Are you one of those people who when you get asked to draw a person; you inevitably draw a stick-figure?  The experience can be rather humiliating. The maps of Greg Coulson approach a similar level of simplicity, yet somehow evoke a more skilled construction. Perhaps the use of draftsman's rulers instead of 'sticks' or the lofty pursuit of the map, elevates that ostensibly 'novice' attempt. Whatever the reason; I like these stick maps - they are good. 

BEFORE AND AFTER

So, you wake up late one night and you can't get back to sleep. You turn on your TV in the hope that it will anaesthetise you. Cruelly, the only thing on at that hour is infomercials. At first, the ab-flex pro seems like a ridiculous idea, but after 5 minutes of zombie-like consideration of the before-and-after photos, you're like 'well, maybe I could do with some rock hard abs!'. Brain washing works, so why not utilise this idea to wake people up to land management issues? Check out these interactive before and after land use map images.

POPULATION INKLING

The spread of humanity has sometimes been referred to as an ugly blot upon the planet, but after you look at this interactive global population distribution map; you really see what they were getting at.
click here to view

MAP-O-PHILE

Despite this particular work being entitled Flat File Globes and looking pretty much identical to an old-school map filing cabinet, it is according to the artist; actually, a metaphor for the human body and consecutive time-streams! No, I have no idea what that means either, but Noriko Ambe's topographic forms carved out of paper are quite intriguing and do somehow evoke a perception of glacial time unfurling

8-BIT IS BACK

I hate to be blunt, but if you're reading a blog about mapping, then you're also probably interested in fantasy games & novels, and you are therefore my friend, a nerd - Nerd! So instead of denying the truth, you might as well click on the latest April fools day stunt by the good people at google maps... similar to a previous Choice map post a few years back called retro get it yo, google has gone and turned our world into an 8-bit fantasy quest. Nerd!

CIUDAD NAZCA

If (like me) you find yourself fascinated by the mysterious Nazca Lines in Peru, or perhaps you enjoyed the imaginary 'set' construction within the excellent movie Dogville, or if you're some weird Choice Map Tuesday fan who has actually read my other posts: castles made of sand or the mysterious sliding rocks of the racetrack Playa (?), then this post's for you!!! If not, well to be honest then I got nothing for ya and you're not welcome here anyway!... just joking, I desperately need you to watch this video of a 1:1 scale imaginary city mapped-out in the middle of nowhere.

WISDOM OF THE WIND

Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south then it turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. All the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, like chasing after the wind
- Ecclesiastes 4:14

WATER-COLOUR COOLNESS

Most people are probably familiar with the water-colour paintings of Monet or Kandinsky and assume that this style is no longer relevant to us in this day-and-age, but then again most people are idiots, and aren’t familiar with Stamen designs. Stamen (pronounced in a similar way to ‘Newman’ of Seinfeld) are always doing such cool things, that they make us fellow map-makers jealous. One such work is this dynamic water-colour world-map. "Stamen!"
If you're actually interested in this (?), here's how they did it... water-colour and texture.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Ah, gay Paree, you beguiling city you - your irresistible cobbled streets, smokey bars and red wine indulgences flood the romance of our hearts like subway stations filling with people - each stop; another dream, another twinkling star, another delicacy in a moveable feast. Gaze here my friends at the celestial city