16 replies to this topic

[Nick Springer]

These maps were just published in A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester, author of The Map That Changed the World and Krakatoa.

I would have posted them sooner so I could get feedback I could actually incorporate, but the publishers don't like me to give anything away.

So, I welcome any and all feedback for my own future reference, but unfortunately I can't fix the maps at this point.

 Winchester_Map_2.jpg   157.34K   161 downloads  Winchester_Map_4.jpg   88.25K   139 downloads  Winchester_Map_7.jpg   124.78K   149 downloads
 Winchester_Map_6A.jpg   111.91K   116 downloads  Winchester_Map_6B.jpg   108.98K   119 downloads  Winchester_Map_6C.jpg   133.05K   147 downloads

[Rob]

very nice. I just heard that he was coming out with another book and look forward to reading it, and your maps.... got his The map that changed the world on my shelf right next to me. Good you know who did the cart.

Rob

[Nick Springer]

There are some other, more illustrative maps in there that are by Laura Hatman Maestro, who I don't know. Maybe she lurks around here under another alias

[franciscocartographer]

Very nice B&W maps. What data did you used for these? What software did you used?

[frax]

nice!

how is the book?

[Nick Springer]

Very nice B&W maps. What data did you used for these? What software did you used?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I used a combination of Manifold for data gathering and projection, and Adobe Illustrator CS and Photoshop CS for the design and layout.

These were my data sources:
World Tectonic Map
- Plate Boundary data from Peter Bird at UCLA.
- Volcanoes selected from the Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program.
- Earthquakes locations from the U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program.
- Hillshading and bathymetry derived from ETOPO2

Paleogeographic Continents
- Continent coastlines and locations provided by Ronald C Blakey, Northern Arizona University.

Shake Map
- Shake intensity contours derived from data provided in U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, Modified Mercalli Intensity Maps for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Plotted in ShakeMap Format, By John Boatwright and Howard Bundock.
- Hillshading derived from GTOPO30

The 3 Maps San Andreas Fault
- Fault lines from California Geologic Survey, Digital Database of Faults from the Fault Activity Map of California and Adjacent Areas.
- Hillshading derived from GTOPO30

[Nick Springer]

nice!

how is the book?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just got my copies last week, so I haven't had a chance to start it yet.

[Martin Gamache]

Very nice Nick.

mg

[mike]

very nice Nick!

those maps look great. gives me a little scare, as i live near one of those faults. lol

[Nick Springer]

As part of my research I acquired a 5'x7' map of ALL the faults in California printed in 1977. The level of detail is amazing. I wish I had a place to display it. One more item for my map collection.

[Nick Springer]

Since nobody has posted any criticisms, I'll add one of my own. I was never satisfied with the symbology for the volcanoes and earthquakes on the first map. I wanted to show the density of these features, as well as the distribution.

On similar maps I have seen the locations edited so that there is no overlap, but this to me doesn't give a good sense of some areas where there are frequent earthquakes or clusters of volcanoes.

In the end I used semi-transparent symbols so the dense areas would become darker with overlapping symbols. Unfortunately in ink these tended to make a big blob and conflicted with some of the plate boundary symbology.

[frax]

I agree with that. I think they look like they lack some contrast too, but perhaps they look better in print... ?

Didn't you feel limited by doing this in b&w, or was that a decision of yours?

[Nick Springer]

The B&W was not my choice, the book is a mass-market non-fiction work. They look about the same in print.

[Dennis McClendon]

Very nice work. My two design comments:

The border seems a little out of place on small editorial maps like this. They call too much attention to the borders, which contain no content (such as lat/long spans, the original rationale for this type border).

Second, I wonder if you experimented with having the fault lines in white and the culture in black. That would have seemed more logical, to have the culture be part of the surface but the fault lines be "cracks" in it.

[ELeFevre]

Nick,
Very nice work. I agree, I'm not totally sold on the symbology of the earthquakes/volcanoes on the first map either, but I can see how working in B/W and at that scale would be difficult to overcome. However, it's still readily apparent where most of the activity is taking place...and that's what is important, I'll assume. I'm also having a difficult time identifying a "spreading ridge" on the map. Perhaps the double lines are hidden beneath an area dense with volcanoes/earthquakes?

If you ever get the time, you could make a nice animation from your Pangea sequence by adding a few extra steps...

Good work. Erin