06: Map Making

Illustration 1: Map Making ©thesmarti

Moving to new places is always exciting (sometimes overwhelming) exercise in navigation. My small trick is to move in concentric circles, slowly expanding outward within the vicinity of our apartment. Eventually, I figure out most of the city and then I start finding shortcuts, or extra neighborhood pockets. These are the moments where the city folds in on itself and the layout finally lands in my head. That’s when I like to make my own map of where we live. It’s fun to test my navigation skills and compare what I think I know to what is actually there.

Every place we’ve moved, I’ve made a map. Most of the time it’s just for myself. But lately, I’ve been more excited to make them to share with friends and family who are visiting. My first year in Copenhagen I made a small neighborhood map for a QR code tour of Nørrebro - where I live. The second year I’ve made a bigger map of the city with the neighborhoods I think matter the most. (Expanding outward - it’s a theme.)

Map making is a fun way to learn the history of a city, too. It gives me a chance to find out the stories behind street names, neighborhoods, businesses. I sometimes take in a sampling of local tours (free and paid) until walking through the city makes sense. I definitely borrow local books from the library to learn historical anecdotes / monument facts / culture tips, etc. Then I'm bursting with small stories when visitors come around.

Photos from Left to Right: 1) illustrated inner Copenhagen map reference, 2) stack of books from the library to start my Copenhagen research, 3) small drafted outline of the city ©thesmarti

Creating a map outline is the hardest part. I'm no cartographer, so I rely heavily on Google Maps. I used it as a reference in light opacity in my design files to get the city proportions right. Then, I start adding in the color blocks for land and water. Afterwards, it's a style choice to design the streets, add in monuments, etc. Eventually I remove the Google Map reference. And because my maps are not meant to be perfect, I have a lot of flexibility here to change the proportions or layouts to accommodate my aesthetic preferences.

I talked to a lot of people about cool areas and then I collate it into a list of hot locations. Everyone has their favorite parts, and I love hearing different opinions. For most of my maps though I tend to stick to the tourist landmarks , and then I sneak in a couple of the top local spots as well as my personal favorites.

Photo: 4 Layout ideas for the frontside map and the backside facts for my Copenhagen map, as well as illustrated research. @thesmarti

In my last Copenhagen map, I ran into issues with my location illustrations obscuring the street names. I wanted the illustrations to help orient the user, but I didn't want the illustrations to take precedence over the winding streets. I found a compromise by making the illustrations smaller and putting them on clear backgrounds as pngs. It really killed me to minimize them since the image just won't condense as sharply. But sometimes you have to sacrifice the details to make the map readable.

Illustration 2: Towers of Copenhagen ©thesmarti

And then, of course, I love a smart fold in a map. For the Nørrebro QR code hunt, I made the map fold open into a perfect pop-up display. It was easy to see and perfectly compact. A tidy package! So I knew I wanted something similar for this map. I played around with several different iterations from Pinterest before settling on a diamond twist fold. It required a little finesse to open it neatly, but the result is just as charming.

Photo 5: From left to right, start to finish - first drafts, to folding patterns, and final print. Voila! My Copenhagen map.

Map-making in general is a never-ending process. A city is always changing in small ways: businesses open or close, bicycle paths are added, construction goes up, etc. So there is always something to tweak. Sometimes I lose interest in the map file and just leave it as a testament to what the city looked like when I lived there. Otherwise, I just keep changing the “last edited Month/Year” fine print at the bottom of the map and in the file name to keep it up to date.

Getting lost in a city can be wonderful. For me, its inevitable. So map-making feels like a proactive way to enjoy getting lost.

Happy map-making!

smarti