10 replies to this topic

[Renee]

Thanks to the CartoTalk members who gave us great advice while we made our walking map of downtown Vancouver ( & surrounding area). You were extremely helpful and I appreciate your insights. Here is a link to our site, mainly so anyone who's interested can see samples. (Of course, if you're heading to Vancouver, you're welcome to order one, but that's not why I"m posting today.)

NOTE: The map doesn't have grid lines, so go no further if you find this upsetting....

RANT: If one more retailer says to me "Oh, didn't you know they make free maps?," I'm going to throw up.

Cheers, and thanks again to everyone here. This is a wonderful community and I enjoy reading about all the different projects you all are working on.


Renee D.

http://www.pinkparrotmaps.com

[François Goulet]

I like the colors and the way, information is given on each location...

[sitesatlas]

Wow, that looks great! It must have been a big challenge to label...

[Renee]

Thanks, Francois.

We worked hard to make it readable without any indexing or cross-referencing. I find that those systems are fine when you're looking for a particular place, but not when you're just exploring. So far, user feedback has been very positive, which means a lot to us.

Best,
Renee

[Renee]

Hi, Michael.

Yes, the editing & labeling was tricky, especially in the densest parts of downtown. We could only fit so many items per square block and still maintain clarity, so in certain areas, the bar was very high in terms of listing selection. My husband (aka the art department) and I had endless conversations about which listings would be most useful to visitors, about the right balance of high-end to affordable places, restaurants to historical spots, amount of descriptive text, etc. For example, one block could easily contain several outstanding restaurants for dinner, a couple of unique and interesting boutiques, a cheap-and-cheerful breakfast place that opens really early, and a couple historical buildings. Or something that deserved a longer description. It can't all fit (elegantly), so wey had to filter, and that's where the editorial selection got really difficult. All the places are good in their own way, but some had to go, so that the finished map would be robust and useful to a wide variety of people. I mean, it's not just about fancy restaurants. And the descriptions make it interesting, but longer descriptions take up space and result in fewer listings. It was challenging but very fun and rewarding.

The irony is that we learned so much about making a map like this, we could do another one for another location in a tenth of the time. But first we need to make sure this concept sells. This map was made with love and care...I walked every single block on it to check for accuracy, and we laboured over every listing to make sure we produced the best possible selection of Vancouver offerings. But I'm discovering that a lot of people out there just want a free map, regardless of whether the listings are simply advertisers, or outdated, or hard to read.

Oh, look, I'm rambling. Happens every time I talk about my map... ;-)

Cheers,
Renee

[Jimbo]

It has it's own unique style & no doubt it will sell quite well in the next little while with the Olympics coming to Vancouver. Of course rumor has it Winter's enemy Mr. El Nino wants to pay a visit as well, that could be disastrous if it's too strong.

[Hans van der Maarel]

Oh, look, I'm rambling. Happens every time I talk about my map... ;-)

Don't worry, that's a very good sign, and I think most people here can totally understand

I love your attention to detail. It's always good to see that on a map. Have you ever seen Nat Case's work? The Professor Pathfinder series he's involved in looks quite similar.

[Charles Syrett]

I love this style of map -- its clean crisp look is right up there, not only with Nat Case's stuff, but also Dennis McClendon (Chicago Cartographics), and David Lindroth, and Stephan Van Damm, etc. (too many to name) .... It's really nice to see something that doesn't have that "GIS look"!

Re free maps: Folks have always wanted free maps! I remember when almost all road maps were free, back in the 60s. Once I was driving with a friend, who stopped at a gas station to get a map. He came out without the map, and said, very disgruntled, "they wanted 75 cents!"

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

[David Medeiros]

Great map! Wish I had this for our trip to Vancouver a few years back. It's hard to get people to understand the value of a map like this over a free "guide" map. What you need is a bit of press, is there a local travel section in the vancouver paper? Send them a few free printed maps, see if they'll run a little blurb in the paper the next time they do a local travel write up.

[Renee]

Oh, look, I'm rambling. Happens every time I talk about my map... ;-)

Don't worry, that's a very good sign, and I think most people here can totally understand

I love your attention to detail. It's always good to see that on a map. Have you ever seen Nat Case's work? The Professor Pathfinder series he's involved in looks quite similar.

Hans,

No, I hadn't see Nat's work before, but just now looked it up. I see he does college towns....absolutely brilliant idea! Nice execution too.

Renee

[Renee]

Charles, thanks...and nice talking with you again!

David, you're right about getting some press. Have been sending out samples...will see if we get a mention anywhere. Fingers crossed, as that would help a lot.

You're both right about the free maps. I'll admit, I underestimated the lack of appreciation for maps in general. I love a good map and always have...it just didn't occur to me that everyone else (present company excluded, of course) doesn't feel the same way!

Renee