12 replies to this topic

[JimBlakeslee]

Thought you all might like this retro style map.

I was trying to match this 1930's piece:
http://www.dupontcir...cl/plat1892.jpg

Any suggestions on how to make mine look more handmade? Maybe something like a brush effect.

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[Hans van der Maarel]

Very impressive. The color really works well for making it look old.

As for making it look more hand-drawn, try adding some random noise to the lines and area fills. Just a little bit. A tiny difference in fill color or line width already works a charm.

[Martin Gamache]

If you want to go with the raster approach, you can add some noise to the brown section and the run the watercolor filter on that and then fade it, that might give you some nice soft tonal variations.

You can also make a brush in illy that replicates a line that has been eroded/worn a bit and use that for you street edges..

You might want to scan in some folds and apply that to parts of the map a a texture.

It looks veery nice as is

[Matthew Hampton]

I really like the look of the map. Nice Job!

My only comment would be to subdue the bright blue concentric circle in the center.
__
Matthew

[EcoGraphic]

If you look closely at the old map, the lines are often dashed and very thin. i can't tell on yours if you have done this as well. If you have access to the Photoshop Wow CD, there are quite a few paper texture styles on that which you might find good for making the background not so perfect. There are also excellent watercolor brush styles on the disk, although again this is for photoshop. They might make it look more hand tinted..... a lot of work however.


Gillian

[Nick Springer]

Everyone else had made the same suggestions I would have, so I just wanted to say this is a very besutiful map. Good job.

[DaveB]

Well, not being familiar with New York City (just kidding - I know it's really Rome er, I mean Washington, D.C.), is that a fountain in Dupont Circle now? Or are you using the blue circle to highlight that spot? If it's the former I would go with a less saturated blue. Maybe you can find a similar color on the original old map?

Subtle irregularities can really make a difference in giving something the appearance of a hand-drawn or etched map.

The only other thing I would suggest is you might try experimenting with fonts. Especially for the larger labels like Dupont Circle, maybe something with that kind of open etched look like the oriiginal map. I'm sure someone here can suggest some suitable fonts.

All in all I think it's a cool map, the colors really help capture the look of the older map.

[frax]

another thing you could do is to try to extend some lines a little bit and mimic pencil guides that have been erased. To give it the impression that it was drawn up and sketched in pencil before being colored and lettered, if you know what I mean (hard to describe).

But nice work!

[frax]

oh, another thing you could do, to get more tonal variation on the buildings, is to set a very slight inner glow, to deepen the colors along the edges. The building to the top left in the old map has something like that (it seems like).

[EcoGraphic]

The only other thing I would suggest is you might try experimenting with fonts. Especially for the larger labels like Dupont Circle, maybe something with that kind of open etched look like the oriiginal map. I'm sure someone here can suggest some suitable fonts.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I just came across this font which may work for you to give you letters that authentic open-style look:

Goudy HandTooled Font

Gillian

[ECO Trekker]

Good work! Really nice!!

[Martin Gamache]

Jim,

I just noticed the arrangement of the paths in Dupont Circle are different on the two maps, radial in your map, and more like overlapping petals in the original. Have the paths' alignment changed?

[JimBlakeslee]

Jim,

I just noticed the arrangement of the paths in Dupont Circle are different on the two maps, radial in your map, and more like overlapping petals in the original. Have the paths' alignment changed?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interesting isn't it? I don't know what it was like in the 1930's. But it is radial now.