MapMarks Transit Blog

This week is Transit Map Theme Week at Cartophilia!

In the last several weeks I have either happened across, or had links to interesting transit maps sent my way. So many in fact, I don't want to cram them all in to one post.

Today, I will introduce you to a new blog by Transit Map maven, Mark Ovenden: MapMarks. Mark promises to share with us about "maps, metro's, cartography, transport and a handful of other nonsense."

Mark Ovenden is the author of two recent books on transit maps:

Transit Maps: The World's First Collection of Every Urban Train Map on Earth
Paris Underground: The Maps, Stations, and Design of the Metro UPDATE 1/12: This book just got a review in the NewYorker.

Via The Map Room

Give the Gift of Map Books

The holiday shopping season is rapidly approaching. Here are two recently published books of interest to that cartophile on your shopping list:

The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography by Katharine Harmon

In a sequel, of sorts, to her previous book on map art, You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination, Harmon promises to lead her readers to:

different destinations: places turned upside down or inside out, territories riddled with marks understood only by their maker, realms connected more to the interior mind than to the exterior world. These are the places of artists' maps, that happy combination of information and illusion that flourishes in basement studios and downtown galleries alike.

You Are Here featured previously on Cartophilia:
Happy Father's Day to Me
On the Road to...?
Be My Cartographic Valentine

Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities by Frank Jacobs

Jacobs has been publishing his hugely popular Strange Maps blog since 2006, where he "collects and comments on all kinds of cartographic curiosa". As has become a blogger custom lately, he has collected over one hundred of his strangest maps into this handsome soft cover coffee table book. Includes his extensive commentary.

UPDATE 11/13: The Freakonomics blog has an interview with Frank Jacobs (HT to The Map Room).

Interestingly, both books feature upside-down/inside-out maps on their covers.

Tell them Cartophilia sent you.

#495

Happy Blogiversary!

Happy Second Birthday to TheElectoralMap.com! My favorite political geography blog.

Reading about Patrick's anniversary reminds me that I completely forgot to note my own second anniversary last month: September 4. (Perhaps because September 4 is also the anniversary of a failed marriage, it remains obscured in my mind.)

Last year, I noted my first blogiversary here. Perhaps I'll do something special for post #500 which should be coming up soon...

This is post #480

Cartocacoethes

Steve, the best maintenance man ever employed by my library, is currently repainting my department. The walls in this room have not been painted since the department was created, nearly twenty years ago. That dark red, dark blue and grey have always seemed a bit gloomy and we are being cheered by the fresh shades of blue and green on our walls. First, he works around the trim before attacking the larger areas with the roller... but wait! Is that a map of Ohio I see?



Cartocacoethes is a word coined to describe "a mania, uncontrollable urge, compulsion or itch to see maps everywhere." Yeah, that sounds like me.

I don't know if it is a real word. I cannot find it in the Oxford English Dictionary. The only reference I can find to it is on other map blogs, and has been discussed, at length, on Making Maps and Strange Maps. If someone has a citation to an actual medical dictionary reference to this word, please send it my way.

Gnomes of North America via Mexico!

Cartophilia, the love of maps, is universal and international.

Recently discovered: ¡Mapas, mapas! a Spanish language map blog by Fernando Augusto López Plascencia of Mexico.

What map has caught Fernando's eye? Gnomes of North America:



In particular, the Gnomes of Frankenmuth, Michigan. Frankenmuth is famous throughout Michigan for its year-round Christmas themed shopping and "family-style" chicken dinners. We used to go there every year when I was younger, but no one ever told me about the Gnomes...

I guess they are secret no more...

#465

Daytonology North

Last month, in a post about Lost Highways, I wrote about the National Road and the Dixie Highway as part of the national road system prior to the numbered U.S. Highways and Interstates.

The Daytonology blog has posted a brief history of transportation routes north from Dayton as part of a series of articles discussing development of Vandalia and other points North.

Maps include rivers, canals, railroads and highways.

A Rebel in Siam

Showing off the latest addition to my map postcard collection:



It's not very clear what year this antique map was made, but no matter. It shows parts of what is now Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma and China. All areas underrepresented in my collection.

It was sent to me by "Rebel", an American (or Aussie?) blogging from Thailand: Rebel's Work In Progress - Thailand Edition!

After spending my post-college decade stuck in unfulfilling office jobs, I decided to strike out and see the world. First stop - Thailand.

Thanks, Rebel, for pausing to send this postcard!

UPDATE 5/14: Rebel tells me that she is "American as apple pie... you know the kind you get in a little cardboard box at McDonalds. ;)"

The YouTube River flows into the Google Ocean

Article today on Techcrunch.com about how Google will incorporate YouTube into it's new social networking initiatives.

YouTube River Diverted Into The Google Social Ocean As Well, accompanied by this metaphorical graphic:

Can anyone identify the location of this satellite image?

HT to Hunter

Manhattan Euro

This morning I highlighted the fictitious Amero coin with a map on it. Then this evening, on the Cartografie Twitter feed I saw a ling to a real coin, the Dutch Euro, featuring the island of Manhattan:



According the to the Dutch map blog, Studiekring Historische Cartografie, The Netherlands has issued a 5 Euro coin commemorating the 400th anniversary Henry Hudson's discovery of the island of Manhattan, soon to be the city of New Amsterdam, later New York. (Why'd they change it? I can't say. Maybe they like it better that way.)

My best understanding of the Dutch text, using an online translator: The front shows, along with an inset of Queen Beatrix, the exact structures of Manhattan anno 2009. The artist has given the coin a 3D impression of of Southern Manhattan. The back of the coin has the landscape of Manhattan anno 1609, accurately reflected thanks to scientific research of the Wildlife Conservation society in New York.

To my Dutch readers, please feel free to tell me more!

Studiekring Historische Cartografie is another great map blog. The love of maps is universal!

UPDATE 4/8: I knew I could count on the friendly Dutch people to help me out. Here is a link to the English translation

2008: The Year in Political Geography

Patrick Ottenhoff's political geography blog, The Electoral Map, was my favorite site this past year for electoral maps, county voting projections, and interesting commentary.

Here, he has pulled together a mappish Year in Review for 2008:

2008: The Year in Political Geography

View more presentations from PatrickOttenhoff.

The Map Scroll

The Map Scroll is a new map blog (January 2009) with an emphatic Mission Statement: "You know what you need? A blog that updates with one new bitchin map every goddamn day." The blog's author, "Chachy B. Terwilliger", is doing just that. Every day he has posted a map, some I've seen before, some new; but each of them has been interesting. For instance:

The Greatest Journeys Ever:


The Skin Color Map:


and the Place of the Week: Pitcairn Islands


I admire Chachy's persistence. It will be interesting to see how long he can keep up the pace... but one way or the other I look forward to his next post.

Hand Drawn Map Contest

The Hand Drawn Map Association will be publishing a collection of hand drawn maps with the Princeton Architectural Press. To celebrate and help collect interesting maps for possible inclusion in our upcoming book, they will be running a contest over the next few months.

Submit a hand drawn map to the Association before April 30, 2009, and you may win a "super-limited edition monoprint".

I'm a Twit

So, I recently wrote about (and mocked) the whole Twitter thing. However, enough folks out there assure me it is really cool and fun... so, I'm going to give it a try. If you other Twits out there want to follow my Tweets (I can't believe I'm even writing this) my feed is available at: http://twitter.com/cartophilia.

In addition, for those of you wasting time like me on Facebook, I have joined Networked Blogs and you can follow my blog there as well. Hope you all enjoy it. Knock yerself out.

NetworkedBlogs Blog: Cartophilia: Maps and Map Memorabilia Topics: maps   Join my network

America Deflated

Often I have highlighted a map that provides an "inflated view" of its subject. In other words, making it appear larger (and by inference, more important).

Artist Nina Katchadourian has taken an opposite approach. She has taken a standard AAA road map of the United States and "deflated" it, to only include the portions that are relevant to her life:

Coastal Merger:

I was born in California, moved to the east coast for college, went back to the west coast for graduate school, and now live on the east coast again. This map reflects my bicoastal experience of this country.

From a purely technical point of view, I am impressed with the way she carefully matched up coastlines and highways to create a seamless merger. I wish I could get a closer look.

Katchadourian's work can also be seen in this collection, Opener 11: Nina Katchadourian: All Forms of Attraction and in my favorite "maps as art" book, You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination by Katharine Harmon.

Via Creative Mapping: "A blog dedicated to the creative use of maps in art or how to map information creatively. All in all we are dedicated to showing map art."

Big Apple, or Big Spud?

From Very Small Array, via Curbed.com

Two really cool mappish/design/architecture/popular culture/etc. and other stuff blogs I've just discoverd.

Seattle Space Needle in Jeopardy?

Ken Jennings (yes, that Ken Jennings, the guy that holds the record for the longest winning streak on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy!) has a website and blog where he talks a bit about his life and his family, and a lot about games and puzzles and other things that he finds interesting.

Yesterday, he posted about finding a sticker album for his son. "He’s a bit of a nerd, and likes maps and stuff."

I beg your pardon! There is nothing nerdy about liking maps and stuff!

Geeky, maybe...

Anyway, Ken was offended by the lackluster and inaccurate depiction of Seattle's most famous landmark, the Space Needle: "I feel I know the Space Needle. And you, odd gray Cylon-looking phallus, are no Space Needle. You’re not even close."

Check out his post to see the even more egregious offense, the image they chose to represent Notre Dame University, in South Bend, Indiana...

The Walmart Epidemic

The Flowing Data blog created an animation showing the growth of Walmart. It starts slow and then spreads like wildfire...



Via Boing Boing

Fantasy Cartography

Fantasy Cartography is a blog that offers a collection of maps from various fantasy and science fiction books. Also included are "other goodies from literature, the Bible (not fiction), or television programs, movies, and video games."

Since January of this year, the (unnamed) blogger has pulled together hundreds of maps. While I did not make an exhaustive search, nearly every one of a half-dozen or so authors I checked were represented in the collection. Each entry is extensively tagged allowing the user to search any title in the author's series in order to find the relevant map.

Below is an excellent example of a map of the Young Kingdoms surrounding Melniboné, from Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné series of fantasy novels; authorized by the author.



My only quibble with the site is that many of the maps are not clearly marked to indicate if they are the "official" map (included in the book, or approved by the author) or "fan maps", drawn by fans based on their perception of the author's imaginary world.

Via The Map Room


#229

Where Is Local Girl?

Caroline Clifford is a UK web comic blogger, known as Local Girl. I find her comics and stories about her daily life amusing (if sometimes a little TMI...).

Local Girl has embarked on a summer adventure traveling through Canada and the United States by bicycle, bus and train. She has created a Google Map that allows her fans to know Where Is Local Girl?:



She started in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is working her way through the Maritimes before heading south. I especially like the custom marker pin she has created using her comic icon.

Perhaps at some point she will cross paths with Evan on his "crazy ass" adventure.


#214

Where In The World Is This?

It is an island... somewhere on the planet Earth:



If you can identify it, visit Where On Google Earth? and post your guess.

Gary Arndt is a world traveler, and every 2-3 days he posts a new contest to identify a location from Google Earth.


#213

Evan Crossing the US

In March of this year, Evan, twenty-three years old, left his home in Northern California and began his walk across the United States. Monday this week we had the pleasure of hosting him for a night here in Dayton, Ohio.

He had many interesting stories to share, and good conversation. We could have gone late into the night, if most of us didn't have to go to work the next day... Some of his adventures are chronicled in his blog: Evans crazy ass adventures crossing the US ect. Unfortunately, his Flagr map stopped working about halfway through Missouri:



From Dayton, he will continue across Ohio to Pennsylvania. His goal is to make it to Massachusetts by the end of the summer.

Ms. Cartophiliac connected with Evan via the Couch Surfing Project, a "worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit." These connections provide opportunities for individuals to find a free "couch" to stay the night while traveling, and maybe make a few new friends along the way.

Each dot on this map shows locations where couch surfers might be able to find a friendly sofa:



Evan has used this network to connect with Couch-Hosts from Europe to China. After he is done with this trip, he says he's off to Japan. Good luck on your trek, Evan. May your feet find soft highways...


#208

Map Catalog of the Week

Who doesn't love maps? I recently discovered two more blogs focusing on interesting maps:

Map of the Week has been highlighting a new map every week since 2005! The author, "Dug", calls himself a "Cartographer/GIS/map nut by trade originally from Philadelphia now living in exile outside of Boston, Mass." This week's map takes a look at the Map of Web Trends from Information Architects:



Mary Ann Vance started a new blog last month, that she calls "Map Catalog". I presume that Mary Ann is also a cartographic professional of one sort or another (educator?). Her blog posts highlight different types and styles of maps. Her choice of an example of a planimetric map was a stroke of genius!

In a recent post, she offers a population density dot distribution map from the U.S. Census Bureau. The brighter the dot, the higher the population density:




#204

Spanish Jeopardy

"Rex Parker" calls himself "The 55th Greatest Crossword Puzzle Solver In The Universe!" He also collects and writes about vintage paperback books, in his blog, Pop Sensation.

Naturally, this book's cover caught my eye: Jeopardy Is My Job, by Stephen Marlowe.

Hardball detective fiction writer, Stephen Marlowe (must be Phillip's brother), writes about hardball detective, Chester Drum, and his hardball trip to Spain, where he tracks down hardball (highball?) drinkers. Its a good thing he has a map to help him out.

If you enjoy bad book covers, then you should also check out Judge a Book by its Cover.

Oregon: the Quilter State

In addition to the Kentucky Democratic Primary tomorrow, folks will also be voting in Oregon. Barack Obama is expected to win this primary.

Oregon is one of the handful of states I have never visited, so I only have these two map postcards:



The only resident of Oregon that I sort of "know" is blogger, Michael5000; art quilter, bible-reader, and pop quizzer. He loves his home state, and his home town of Portland (City of Roses). However, unhappy with his state's boring flag, he sponsored a contest to design a new flag. The winner:

Ohio on a Stick

Some of you may have noticed my recent experimentation with selling advertising space to Project Wonderful. It is an interesting model for buying an selling ads. That little ad box in the upper right portion of this page does not, I think, usually offend.If anything, the ads are often a little silly and irrelevant to the topic of this blog (online comics, fan fiction, t-shirts). I have so far made a grand total of $0.27!

Just imagine my suprise when, this morning, I looked at my blog and found an ad for "Original Map Paintings." The ad links to an online shop at Etsy, an online community where members can buy and sell "all things handmade".

The art featured in this shop is by Erik Maldre. He calls the two examples posted here Ohio on a Stick and Estonia on a Stick.

From the Artist's Statement:

The second reality is clearly defined by the title of each piece. "'Region' on a Stick No. 'X'" perpetuates beyond the representational notions of a map by suggesting that the represented region is a physical object unto itself. Ironically enough, the duality of representation comes full circle for the suggested physical object is still a representation of such due to its physically painted nature.

Erik, I love this stuff. If you had sent me a link, I would have plugged your site for free! (Like I'm doing now.) Although, as long as you maintain the Project Wonderful ad, your link will remain at the top of the front page...

Managing Geographic Information Systems

I have lately experienced an interesting phenomenon that I imagine many bloggers, at least those with a moderate following, have experienced: The Promotion Campaign. I have been contacted several times by PR people as part of their attempt to create some buzz about the product, exhibit, service or website they are promoting. If it is relevant to my topic, maps and map memorabilia, I am more than happy to give them a plug.

In that same vein, I was delighted to post about John Krygier's book, Making Maps: A Visual Guide to Map Design for GIS, not only because it is an interesting book, but I also am a fan of his supplementary blog, Making Maps: DIY Cartography. As stated from the beginning, I am not a cartographer, nor professional geographer. Neither am I versant in the use of geographical information systems. I felt semi-competent commenting on Krygier's book because it had wonderful advice for the amateur mapmaker, as well as some clever and useful illustrations.

Presumably, because of that review, and the fact that I am a librarian, Krygier's publisher, Guilford Press, has me on a list. Today I received a review copy of Managing Geographic Information Systems, Second Edition, by Nancy J. Obermeyer and Jeffrey K. Pinto. Aside from my wholehearted endorsement of the attractive use of topographic map iconography in the cover design, I am very unqualified to comment on the quality of the book's contents. I just don't do GIS. However, I would like to honor Guilford's trust in me by at least attempting to get a review for them. Therefore, I am willing to mail this copy of the book to anyone interested in GIS and feels as if they could give this book and its authors a fair evaluation. Contact me and include your address (USA only) and I will send it your way. Write up a review and I will post it here.

Cartophilia Poll

I maintain this blog because it is fun, but I also hope that others find it amusing. I know somebody is reading, or at least looking at the pages, because the statcounter keeps going up... I would like to provide content folks enjoy, so, if you are a returning visitor, what brings you back? Please take a moment to respond to the poll and/or leave a comment on this post. Thanks!

What are your favorite topics on Cartophilia? (You may vote for more than one) Imaginary Countries Map postcards Map clothing Books about maps Map stamps Maps as an element of design Map puzzles Political maps Links to other blogs pollcode.com free polls

Political Cartography 2.0

The Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet is hosting its annual Politics Online Conference this week in Washington, DC. Patrick Ottenhoff, publisher of TheElectoralMap.com, will be speaking on the Political Cartography 2.0 panel. He has already blogged about two of this topics:

Politics Online Conference: D.I.Y. Maps
Politics Online Conference: Cartograms


I'm looking forward to additional posts on his presentation, and the maps he will share.

Canary Islands

I have recently begun trading postcards with other map postcard collectors. The first three cards below are from Héctor, a resident of the Canary Islands, an "Autonomous Community" of Spain, consisting of seven islands.



Contrary to popular belief, the islands were not named after the avian canary. Instead the name comes from the breed of large fierce dogs, the Canary Mastiff (in Spanish, el Presa Canario) that were already present when the ancient Romans established contact with the islands by the sea. The Latin word for dog is canis. The breed of birds were named after the islands...



The economy is based primarily on tourism, which makes up 32% of the GDP. The Canaries receive about 10 million tourists per year. Who wouldn't want to vacation under such a friendly looking sun?



Héctor has begun publishing his own blog, Colección de MAPAS en tarjetas postales, to highlight the map postcards from his own collection. The text is in Spanish, but the images of the map postcards are always interesting.

When I first began correspondence with Héctor I said that I did not have any map postcards from the Canary Islands, but after more searching I rediscovered these two cards that were sent to me by some British friends who like to spend their holidays there:

• According to Tim Ashkar, the women of the islands are mermaids. I find the story a little fishy.


• Christopher Columbus stopped at the Canaries on his way to re-discover the New World in 1492.


• The cuisine of Canary Islands combines traditional Spanish recipes with african and latin-american influences.


• In 1936, Francisco Franco was appointed General Commandant of the Canaries. He joined the military revolt of July 17 which began the Spanish Civil War.

Why Didn't You Tell Me?

Since I began this blog in September, I have had the same Title, Subtitle, and description in place:

Cartophilia: Maps and Map Memorabilia
Stamps, postcards, advertising, coffee mugs, shirts, and other emphemera. I love maps, and maps as an element of design.

However, just this evening, Mrs. Cartophiliac pointed out that I misspelled the word ephemera...

D'oh!

Why didn't you all tell me sooner?

How embarassing.

Making Maps: A Visual Guide to Map Design for GIS

As noted, I am not a cartographer, nor a geographer. In fact I have drawn very few maps since Quastolia... However, I appreciate well designed maps, and John Krygier and Denis Wood have produced a useful guide for amateurs, professionals and students: Making Maps: A Visual Guide to Map Design for GIS.

Before they even get into the mechanics of how to make a map, the first chapters focus on what is a map and why they are powerful tools?

• Why are you making a map?
  
• Your intentions shape the form of the map.
  
• Determine the data appropriate for your map.
  
• Determine the tools you will use.

Next they provide useful information and tips on layout, symbolization and use of fonts and color. Instead of writing about maps, and working some illustrations around their text, they focus on images of maps, with many examples, illuminated by their text.

I appreciated the many illustrated examples of not only good map design, but a few bad ones as well:



Many of the illustrations are entertaining as well as informative:



Krygier, an Associate Professor of Geography at Ohio Wesleyan University, continues to offer tips and advice on his blog, Making Maps: DIY Cartography. There he outlines his intent:

I designed the book like I would design a map. The audience? Cartography courses, maybe as a supplement, GIS courses, certainly as a supplement, and individuals who make maps (or like maps) but don’t have a background in cartography, and don’t want to be academic cartographers. Then what? Coherent concept, a hierarchy of content emphasizing what is important and excising the rest, creative design to grab attention and make a point, all so that the book works as well as possible for its readers.

Making Maps is an accessible introduction to the principles of mapmaking that will lead to creative and useful maps for most purposes.

Bloggers Read Blogs

I checked my stats and found that several more blogs have linked to, or commented about Cartophilia.com. As always, thanks for the plug. And now to return the favor:

I been getting lots of visitors recently from Gadling.com Not a "map blog" but a blog about travel (and travelers, must by necessity, appreciate maps!). However, we also have something else in common. One of the blog writers is named "Jamie" and s/he loves The Amazing Race as much as I do!

Contours is the Official Blog of National Geographic Maps, publishers of reference maps, outdoor recreation maps and mapping software, and professional mapping applications.

Recently they took a look at Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition, and they say the entry on Afghanistan made them cry. Can't say I blame them (but it is still funny, in a macabre way...).

Postcards from Bloggerville is published by a psychologist and writer who has a poetic apreciation of maps.

WHAT IS THE CENTER AND LAYOUT OF YOUR MENTAL GPS SYSTEM?

Do you carry an inner map of the world? Of your life? Of your body?

How do you or don't you use maps in your life?

What is your map of your yourself?

He She writes about many kinds of maps, of places... or persons...

Phillipe Boukobza takes a different tack with his Visual Mapping. He is interested in how ideas are mapped.

A mindmap sketch from John Clapp.