Making a Maker Map
Today I want to share the results of a quick “Maker map” rapid-fire project that kept me occupied last Friday. The request was to, in simple color blocks, draw up a map of San Mateo County with indicators for cities and the three major highways, as well as county lines. This was to be used in poster-form during a Maker workshop in which Maker-educators from around the county would physically plot on the map where Making and Maker-related activities were taking place throughout the County.
For starters, I consulted a number of county maps to piece together the approximate shape of the Peninsula region and establish the county lines; I then overlaid a municipal map to help place the cities and roadways. I determined at the start that my final print size would be 36" x 48", and so to provide workshop participants more space for plotting I increased the width of the region about 10% greater than geographically accurate.
As this was a Maker convening, I very much wanted to represent a spirit of Making in the map’s design. I added a subtle grid background and blue airbrush for the bodies of water, and I applied scribble effects of varying intensity to all of the county and city objects. Additionally, I stylized the county labels and city markers with handwriting-inspired fonts.
During the workshop yesterday morning, participants worked with various Maker materials to create whimsical representations of the places Maker education is happening locally. This resulted in a fascinating landscape indeed:
Maps–especially illustrative maps like this–are among my favorite things to design. That I was able to combine it with a Maker aesthetic was certainly a fun challenge.
Any feedback on this design or suggestions for refinement are greatly appreciated, as my team will be using an iteration of this design moving forward as we work with Makers to populate the County with more and more Makerspaces and Maker activities.
