12 replies to this topic

[Jean-Louis]

One of my missions in life is to persuade people that colorful illustrated maps can apply to any industry beyond the typical use in tourism. I am doing one of a cemetery for a funeral business .which is about the most sober business there is. Thought I'd show it to you guys and see if you feel it 'looks' right.
 JardinMTLsample1.jpg   209.73K   398 downloads

[CHART]

Jean-Louis.

As most of us on Cartotalk know by now, you have THE talent for creating pictorial maps.

What would the small brown squares (a lot of them) within the 'property' represent?
Also there is a structure (top middle) that I can't make out.
I like the text on the road. - and of course I like the art work.

Thank for sharing.

[DaveB]

Looks very good to me, colorful, but not gaudy.

The structure Jacques asked about looks like it has a large (bronze?) representation of an open book. The brown rectangles, plots?

[Jean-Louis]

What would the small brown squares (a lot of them) within the 'property' represent?
Also there is a structure (top middle) that I can't make out.

They replaced all the upright tombstones with bronze plaques set in the ground. There will be pictures with the document.
as for the other, I,m not sure either. Good catch, Jacques! I thought I could fake it. I,ll have to go back and take a closer picture.

an anecdote. I many of my idylic-view maps, I do like the Painter Nicolas Poussin and hide a tiny skull with the latin inscription 'Et in arcadia ego' ((from Milton, I think, ie Death saying: I too am in paradise).... This is one map where I will not do this.

[natcase]

One of my missions in life is to persuade people that colorful illustrated maps can apply to any industry beyond the typical use in tourism. I am doing one of a cemetery for a funeral business .which is about the most sober business there is. Thought I'd show it to you guys and see if you feel it 'looks' right.
 JardinMTLsample1.jpg   209.73K   398 downloads

That's lovely, and a great idea. Not a ton of updating, certainly. And there ought to be a market for this sort of things with "tourist" cemeteries like Mt Auburn in Boston, Arlington national in Virginia, etc. Good luck!

My only question is the styling for the individual grave plaques. At very first glance, they looked like piles of dirt, which had pretty grim connotation in context. I think if they were any color other than brown they'd work great

[ELeFevre]

I love the coloring on the row of trees against the far wall and the shadows under the trees.
The graves do look a little like fresh mounds of dirt on first glance, but it's nothing to fret over. I think that's what the mind expects to see, so it's easy to imagine. How does the funeral home intend to use this? Is this a poster, brochure? Beautiful work as always.

[Derek Tonn]

Fabulous as usual, Jean-Louis! I particularly like your use of color related to the trees and sky. Very handsomely done. I also have to say that Nat's idea about "tourist" cemeteries is a very good one too. The first thought I had after seeing your sample was "Gettysburg" and "Arlington"...though they are large enough destinations where they might already have some type of decent oblique/bird's eye/pictorial type of imagery for their properties.

[MapMedia]

That is absolutely a great design. Hats off to a real artist.
The map has a peaceful and respectful appearance - and the weather is properly balancing - not too gloomy, not too perky, and no sun beams breaking through puffy clouds.
Re: bronze plaques - The edges are crisp enough not to be mounds of earth, yet is there a way to add a general label for them too, as columbariums are labeled?

Other note - font for site features: any room to use a serif font? If I look at the buildings and their labels, it starts to resemble a campus map, that is until the eyes pan elsewhere.

Maybe I've been enjoying too many Charles Adams comics, as I was expecting to see something peculiar out of place.

bravo, Jean-Louis!

[Boyd]

Jean-Louis,

Oh it looks right! Wonderful map. It is refreshing to see such an attractive hand-drawn illustration in the age of GIS. While it might have a slight campus-map appereance (only because I'd assume historic campuses and garden cemeteries have similar landscaping and there's so many bird's eye view campus maps) it is luminous, lush, and inviting, but also understated and respectful. Good balance.

If I could suggest anything it might be: mixing up your font a little. Maybe splining your lower-right road label to the flow of the road...maybe dropping slight screens under your building labels or adding short fly-outs...and maybe adding a title, but it is elsewhere in the publication I'm sure. What is the published format of this map?

Also...just looking at the map would it add anything to slightly haze the deep edge of the cemetery and add a bit more sun to the sky?

Thanks for sharing.

[Matthew Hampton]

Very, very nice Jean-Louis. My comments echo the others and I really like the willow tree center-left.

I would like to let you know that when I first looked at the map - I was a little perplexed as to what the brown objects were in the lawn. After thinking about it, I realized that they were mounds of dirt from freshly dug graves... I think my eye would rather see tombstones - the visual coding for "bronze plaques" are hard to decipher. Hopefully the pictures/context will help.

BTW I think the pine tree to the right of the roundabout in the centerish part of the image needs a little water...

[Jean-Louis]

Thank you for all your comments
What a great place Cartotalk is
The opportunity to run things by peers is one great blessing
Have a great weekend Jacques, Nat, Dave, Jacques, Erin, Derek, Matthew, Boyd and Mapmedia.

[Arcana]

I love seeing illustration used in mapmaking and have been a proponent for it on my site as well...I wish I could draw better myself as that would help me be a proponent of course if I could produce such fine work.

I also was kinda concerned about the plaques...I thought they were mounds at first...Its not a big deal, but the thought was there. Fantastic work though.

[KennyRedman]

Ya, this thing is great, and I love Jean-Louis' style.