12 replies to this topic

[Aris]

happy new year to everybody

This is a map i've been working for a while. The basic point of the map is to show the hiking trails arriving to the highest pick and specially the E4 which leads from the city of Litochoro to the top of the mountain. Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece (mountain of the gods etc) so i wanted to have a shaded relief that would really illustrate that. The hillshade is prepared with SAGA (really amassing program, the possibilities are endless concerning raster). Any comments are welcome especially concerning the colors that i really cant figure out how to pick the proper ones.

Aris

Attached Files

•  Olympos_i.jpg   412.1K   284 downloads

[Hans van der Maarel]

Hi Aris,

Looks nice. The hillshade is nice and subtle in tone.

• I would recommend changing the color of the E4 hiking trail. Now that it's orange, it looks like there's a major road running right up to the Skolio peak.
• Which peak is Mount Olympus? I assume it's Mitikas, the highest one I could find...
• Check your elevation data, it looks like the Enipeas river goes into a bowl then climbs out of it, over a saddle, then resumes flowing downhill. You can probabely just remove that one closed 500m contour line.

And finally... where's our condo's? (start reading at post #8)

[Nick Springer]

Very nice. I would echo 2 of Hans' comments: the color of E$ makes it look like a road, and I couldn't tell where Mt. Olympus was either.

The drop shadow on the trails makes them look like they are floating above the land. I would be more inclined to get rid of the shadow and instead use a multiply transparency so it feels like it rises and falls with the hill shading.

The map seems a bit "claustrophobic" the way it is cropped. I would expand the frame to include the full shape of Litochoro, and the National Park outline.

[David Medeiros]

The only thing I noticed was the change in density from secondary to dirt road (white bordered line to solid black line). It makes the dirt roads stand out and conflict with the secondary roads too much. I'd try a dark or mid gray instead of black. Or some other color arrangement between secondary and dirt to avoid a conflict between a gray dirt road and your gray contour lines.

The dash & gaps for your hiking trail just to the west of Mt. Mitikas seems to vary in a couple of spots (open to tight). Check the specs.

I like the tapered streams and your over all choice of colors.

[Matthew Hampton]

Gorgeous map Aris. I really like the clean elegant feel of the shading and smoothed vectors.

The only suggestions that I would offer would be with respect to the trail symbolization. I think I would use a consistent dashed symbol for all the trail types but call attention to E4 and O2 with a drop shadow and/or casing or color differences. Since they are all trails, my mind wants them to appear similar in some way.

I am not too sure what the curved black labels refer to (ie. Petrostrouga, Pighadia). Are they geographic features, trail names, ? They share the same type style as mountain names, trig points, monasteries, etc. You might change the color or size of some different classes of type elements to help reinforce the type hierarchy. I also think it is easier to read contour elevations if they have a halo (cased-text) around the type so the actual contour line doesn't interfere with their legibility.

Very well done!

[Justin Procopio]

Very nice looking map. A few things:

The Roads and trails title in your key seems out of place as it is the only title in the box. Also, do you think it might be better to say "peak" instead of "trig point?"

I agree with what others said above; I am not a fan of the drop shadows on much of your line-work. Works ok on the key.

Check some of your type placement... such as Skourta (mt.) it could be placed so that it overlaps other features less.

Use black as the fill instead of green or redesign your scale bar. The unit labels are not aligned correctly and you should add 0 for the units.

As always, locater maps depend greatly on who your audience is... do you think you need one here?

I would like to see something with more gradual hill shading. The current shadows seem too abrupt.

Reposition credit line, too close to key, perhaps just a tad to the right.

[Aris]

Thanks all for the contribution.

Hans every time i go up to the mountain i see a little condo, i never understood that it was ours. we really are next to the goods up there.

 DSC06445.JPG   143.36K   94 downloads

About the river, the problem is not with the elevation data but with the river shp which is not so accurate.
I kind of like the drop shadow on the main trails but since you all suggested changing it i will do so and make all trails share the same dashed stile (any suggestions about the colors).
The highest peak of the Mount is Mitikas (throne of Zeus) and i would really like to make it disguise but i have no idea how to do so, do you have any Nick or Hans, that you noticed that?

[marinegirl]

Hi Aris,

Great map! It looks very clean and modern, and I like thehillshading you have used.

A few points I picked up on, mostly echoing those made by others:

- I would make all the trails dashed, and use colour or weight to distinguish E4 and )2 from the others. Otherwise your main trails look too much like roads.

- It would be great if you can use transparency to let the hill shading show through them as Nick suggested

- I'm guessing that your audience are hikers? In which case I might try increasing the size of the labels of the mountains, and maybe labelling some of the other trig points (if they have names) as these are likely to be of interest. I.e. "What's that peak we can see over there?"

- Can you make the national park boundary fade out more? I had to look quite hard to tell which side of the line the park was

- The label on Litochoro looks awkward at that angle. Unless it is important to see all those roads I would layer the label over them and keep it horizontal

Becks

[CHART]

A few comments:

Contour labels should read uphill... (even if it means placing the label beyond a 90 degree rotation). See topo. map specifications.

The map does not provide any land coverage information... is it arid, where is the vegetation (if any).

I like the way rivers thin out at the source. Kinda neat.

I would consider a different park boundary. (Maybe a dash line for the thicker part).

[MapMedia]

Awesome Aris,

I really like the relief and contours and tapered streams. That is some rugged yet beautiful country.
I agree with comments by Hans and others.

My emphasis would be on contour label fix and font/icon issues, whereas instead of Mountain Refuge, shelter would suffice, unless it is a proper lodge.

Best of luck and keep us updated!!

Chris

[natcase]

Nice very clean start. A few notes:

1. Why nothing in Greek characters? Are all the road signs in roman text?

2. I found myself looking for a point labeled "Olympus" or something similar. And I realized, I can't tell which of the peaks is higher, at a glance. The shading in itself doesn't indicate relative prominence. You can use the contours for that, but I'd love something that gives me relative elevation at a glance. Hypsometric tints maybe?

[Aris]

Hy everybody


I made some changes on my map. I finally understood what Nick meant by (The map seems a bit "claustrophobic" the way it is cropped) but nothing i can do now, a good lesson for next time though. Still cant figure out what to do so Mitikas peak distinguishes from the rest peaks. Thanks again to all of you.
 Olympos_i.jpg   407.67K   91 downloads

[natcase]

A couple further notes applying to the new version:

1. check the resolution of your water features. They look over-generalized to me, especially as they do not conform to the contours

2. for a hiking map, I like to see basic ground cover... when am I hiking in the trees, when am I in open land?

3. Think about more of a fade on the park boundary, perhaps a lighter or more transparent tint on the inside. It looks too similar to the main trail in width and shape