Beautiful maps

Indispensable design lessons from one of the oldest forms of graphic design.

VIENNA, Austria Original Watercolor City Blocks Map. With each block painted by hand, an original watercolor of Prague’s beautiful plan is just stunning on the wall of your office, business or home, or a wonderful wedding or anniversary gift to be treasured. I love the complexity and density of historic cities! It's fascinating to roam with your eye over the centuries of street patterns, the concentric ringstrasse, the public plazas and gardens, the river and canal. *This is the original…

Educational diagrams of scientific discoveries, from the moon's surface to the longest rivers.

In my constant search for new kinds of maps to draw, I've been experimenting with adding watercolor to my maps. It's very coloring-book right now, but I am hoping to try some watercolor washes as well. I do like the way that it shows the different geographic elements. The first experimental map: and a large 9x12 map in progress:

Vintage Geological Map of Ireland first published in 1878. We've restored this beautiful map created almost 150 years ago and added shaded relief for a modern look.Shaded Relief modelled from SRTM data for a 3D-like Visual Perspective.This is a flat 2D print with very realistic shading that appears as though it is 3D. Note that the main theme to our relief maps is the hillshading affect and in certain shaded areas on the map the process can make some of the original text illegible…

This is a digitally rendered (printed in 2D(*)) geological map from 1911 of North America (compiled by the United States Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Canada and the Instituto Geologico de Mexico). Digital Elevation Data (DEM), obtained from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is processed and digitally rendered to create a highly detailed elevation profile (printed on a flat surface - note: these prints are NOT raised relief maps). Prints are available in various sizes. As…

Viewed together, these colorful and impressionistic maps depict the organic, evolving nature of the urban landscape.