13 replies to this topic

[Dennis McClendon]

Perhaps I should take my turn as the dartboard. Here's a map for the brochure advertising the Tall Ships festival in Chicago this summer. The audience is largely out-of-towners and suburbanites bringing the kids downtown.

One particular challenge is that the streets south of the river in that area are a complex three-level system, with ramps going from one level to another. Because most people won't drive right to the festival site, it doesn't bother me to have the street map be a "top-down" view. However, showing the actual "trolley" (shuttle bus) route gets very, very confusing as it winds between upper and lower levels. Since you can only board the "trolley" at the four stops, I thought showing it diagrammatically might be a better solution.

Oh, the park and water colors might not be my first choice, but were chosen to match the brochure.


 Tall_Ships_brochure_map.pdf   449.52K   533 downloads

[Hans van der Maarel]

Some of the texts in the yellow circles run out of their circles, though that could be a font issue perhaps...

Also, please note the new gallery option Nick has created (main page, down at the bottom). This area will be closed in due time.

[Martin Gamache]

Dennis,

For me it's minor font issues such as increasing the leading on the two blue hotel labels, and reducing it a tad on the west most "restrooms" label. You might also want to consider using a symbol for the restrooms rather than the same red square as the ticket offices.

mg

[Nick Springer]

The colors aren't unpleasant. One issue is that the yellow arrowheads on the trolley lines are hard to see. Also the trolley stop numbers in the triangles could fit a little better.

Nice map overall.

[Dennis McClendon]

Thanks to all so far. I've adjusted several things based on your suggestions.

I chose to keep the yellow circles all the same size, even though that meant a few letters would hang outside at one of the stops.

The squares representing restrooms are only 4 pts square (more will be added in crowded areas later). I haven't thought of a symbol--other than the circle and triangle you sometimes see on the West Coast--to represent restrooms in so small a space.

Keep the comments coming . . .

[Rob]

looks like a fun way to spend a day...

I don't find a problem with the colors, perhaps a little unsaturated, but the hues seem to work well. the inset reads much heavier compared to the rest of the map because of this though.

How come the triangle for stop 2 is oriented differently from the rest?

The arrowhead pointing at stop 4 could also be a little more centered on its target.

What typeface is the Grant Park label?

nice work. and it can be a dartboard sometimes...lol

[Dennis McClendon]

The colors look especially unsaturated translated to RGB from the PDF, I see.

The triangles at the stops indicate bus stops, so the orientation changes to show which side of the street you stand on.

The serif type is all Minion and Minion Condensed. I usually use Minion with Myriad (same designer, compatible forms) but here it was a last-minute substitution for another typeface.

[frax]

Nice and clean!

I am not sure I like the way the trolley route is marked now though. Is the route between 4 and 1 really relevant? (I understand it as a shuttle to get to the waterfront, from the way you describe it).

Since you can't change the water/park colors, maybe you could do some work to try to accentuate the waterfront better? (shadow/gradient/other outline)

[Dennis McClendon]

Is the route between 4 and 1 really relevant? (I understand it as a shuttle to get to the waterfront

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

. . . and also to get back. The shuttle bus runs in a loop.

maybe you could do some work to try to accentuate the waterfront better? (shadow/gradient/other outline)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmm.? What would be the purpose of that?? Is it difficult to tell the water from the land?

[DaveB]

For the most part up to your usual high standards. Just a few minor issues:
1. The colors are definitely subdued, but maybe okay if they are not as subdued as they appear in the pdf. It doesn't bother me much for the most part, but the yellow for the trolley lines is a little hard to read, especially the arrowheads (which I didn't even notice until Nick mentioned them).
2. Looks like there is some text on the left edge that is mostly cut off, just west of the CTA lines text.

[araki5]

Awesome map! Very sharp!

A couple of points: I was wondering on a map for this purpose(flyer?, put on a sign?, brochure?) would the outline of the lake be better is you showed a gradient?like when the shoreline hits the land or the pier? or am i off base here?

also, i am trying to do the streets like this, i think it's called "encased" lines? do u do this in arcmap or ai?

the text that comes out of the bubble is a minor thing.

Excellent work!

[Dennis McClendon]

would the outline of the lake be better is you showed a gradient?l

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Certainly there are places where a gradient in the water would aid the understanding of ground vs. water, but I didn't feel that was the case here. In fact, the transition between river and lake, with locks, harbors, inlets, piers, etc., would make a gradient pretty tricky to understand.

also, i am trying to do the streets like this, i think it's called "encased" lines? do u do this in arcmap or ai?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

White streets in a colored ground, as seen here, would not be called "cased." "Casing" is putting a darker edge along a line. This is usually done in illustration software by drawing a 3 point red line (for example), making a 4 point dark blue clone of that line, then sending the blue line behind the red line. Though I use illustration software (FreeHand), casing is usually pretty easy to set up in GIS software.

Personally, I seldom use cased lines because I feel they are unnecessary. My design philosophy is generally one of simplification. For a long time, I preferred to not even use a water edge, as you see on the inset map, but that requires a fairly dark water or ground color.

[Matthew Hampton]

Great map!

I agree with you that the water gradient might cloud things up a bit...

The only nitpicky stuff that was readily apparent was the kerning between River and Bus for "Wendella River Bus" seems a little tight (curses to Adobe). The baseline for the "Erie" street label is a little high (and it could be aligned (vertically) with Ontario, Ohio, Grand, and Illinois.

I also can't figure out why there is apparantly a barrier where Columbus and Randolf connect, as well as Randolf and Harbor.

I see that the inset has Millennium Station and railway but I don't see them in the large map (although the CTA lines are on both). A-ha, perhaps Columbus ends at Randolf and south of that is the rail?

I would also a few more beer gardens

[Dennis McClendon]

I also can't figure out why there is apparantly a barrier where Columbus and Randolf connect, as well as Randolf and Harbor. 

This area has a three-level street system, and those streets disappear under upper-level streets.

Here's a technique I sometimes use. Do you think the one-sided bridge symbols help to clarify things for readers?

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