12 replies to this topic

[François Goulet]

Hi folks!

My latest creation . It's for an historical novel taking place in Old Montreal around the year 1870.

I've been asked for a simple map, with main streets and places. I had to add 3 specific locations.

I thought the main character could have this map in its pockets (hence the look like it has been folded) and she could have written those locations herself...

It has already been sent to the publisher (close deadline) so I can't change a lot of things, but I could improve it a little.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Attached Files

•  Vieux_Montreal_1870.png   805.45K   209 downloads

[Hans van der Maarel]

Trés jolie!

I really like the folded effect. How did you do that?

The lettering seems to be too regular for a hand-written note (at least for a hand-written note scrawled on a little map somebody would carry in their pocket)

[François Goulet]

Trés jolie!

I really like the folded effect. How did you do that?

The lettering seems to be too regular for a hand-written note (at least for a hand-written note scrawled on a little map somebody would carry in their pocket)

Thanks!

I didn't have a more "natural" handwriting font, but you're right, I'll ask if they have a better font.

For the effect, I took a white sheet of paper, folded it, scanned it and pasted it as a multiply overlay in Illustrator. I also had an old scan of a early 18th Century sheet of paper, which I add to give a more natural look.

Thanks again Hans!

[DaveB]

Looks cool

I just have a little difficulty reading some of the street names, but I know it can look different on screen than in printed form. Have you made sure they are readable when the map is printed at the size it will be in the book?

Maybe you could get a woman with good handwriting to write the handwritten names (and arrows) for you and scan them in?

[Charles Syrett]

Antique maps are fun! This reminds me of one I did about ten years ago -- I just painted the folds in using Photoshop. I've actually had clients ask for grease spots on antique maps! I actually don't have a problem with your font -- apparently, a lot of people's handwriting actually did look like that in those days. But if you want a more modern, sloppy-handwriting look, there are certainly lots of fonts that do just that.

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com

Attached Files

•  AussieAntique3.jpg   39.45K   86 downloads

[CHART]

Very nice,

Just one thought.

The 'banding' along the St-Lawrence is rather 'square'. Its looks a bit too digital IMO.

[François Goulet]

Thanks everybody!

The publisher and the author loved the map! I'm waiting for their review and I'll try to improve the "handwriting" and the "banding" in the correction process.

Thanks again!

[rudy]

Just using an old 1870 map as an example, perhaps you should place "contour lines" along the shoreline instead of a grey band. See the example I lifted from David Rumsey's collection below. Also I'd suggest a more archaic looking font for the street names.
 sample.jpg   362.25K   69 downloads

[François Goulet]

Just using an old 1870 map as an example, perhaps you should place "contour lines" along the shoreline instead of a grey band. See the example I lifted from David Rumsey's collection below. Also I'd suggest a more archaic looking font for the street names.

The "banding" as Chart called it is a quick attempt (due to budget restriction, I only had a few hours to work on the map) to do something like that. You can see on one of the reference maps they sent me. I tried to follow their model, but I not saying that it's perfect (nor my map too ). I'll see what I can do!

I used a 18th C. style font (it could be anachronic, but I thought it gave an antique look). Maybe it's the size reduction, the screen view or ???, but I'll make some more test to be sure it has the look once printed as I intented.

Thanks!

Attached Files

•  174244_030.jpg   399.17K   63 downloads

[DaveB]

Antique maps are fun! This reminds me of one I did about ten years ago -- I just painted the folds in using Photoshop. I've actually had clients ask for grease spots on antique maps! I actually don't have a problem with your font -- apparently, a lot of people's handwriting actually did look like that in those days. But if you want a more modern, sloppy-handwriting look, there are certainly lots of fonts that do just that.

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com

Nice one, Charles! I always like these antique style maps, as well as hand-drawn or hand-painted looks.

[Charles Syrett]

Nice one, Charles! I always like these antique style maps, as well as hand-drawn or hand-painted looks.

Thanks, Dave. Another example of faux folds on an antique style map was on a map done by Steven Fick of Canadian Geographic, some time back in the 90s. Sorry, can't remember which issue. Maybe one of you other Canadians remembers it?

Charles Syrett
Map Graphics
http://www.mapgraphics.com

[woneil]

I love it, but it seems not nearly fussy enough for the 19th century!

[Rick Dey]

Perhaps actual handwriting as Dave suggested and rotate each of them slightly to make it seem a bit less regular.