Testing map style for a fantasy setting

[cereth]

Do you think that the rivers look good? I tried to make them more clearly visible by making a copy of the blue river layer, coloring it black and blurring it, then placing it under the original layer. But I think it's making the narrowest rivers appear too dark.

Honesty, I think the rivers are a little too close to the land color (shade-wise I guess) and are a little difficult to see. Maybe if the the landmass was just a touch darker maybe the rivers would be easier to see. The blur you put around the rivers helps, but they are still a little hard to see I think.

Is there too much variation of fonts and text colors? I've used different fonts for the names of seas, mountains, land areas and cities/other symbols. I've also made use of different letter cases (for example, capital cities have their names in caps, other cities in lowercase).

I like the text. The different fonts and colors work for me. The text with the white outline really pops.

What do you think about the combination of textured landscape & forests with symbolic mountains? I haven't been able to come up with a method to create good-looking mountains without going for a "satellite photo" style (which I don't want to use because I don't think it sets the right kind of feel), but I didn't want to resort to black & white hand-drawn style either. This is the best compromise I've managed so far.

The combination works fine for me. I like the forests...I still think the landmass color needs to be slightly darker. This would make the forests, coastline, and rivers all pop more. Maybe a similar bluring technique like you did on the rivers would help the coastline as well.

Are the forest edges too blurry? Would tree symbols work better than textured forest for this style of map?

Maybe a tad too blurry, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I think the slightly darker landmass might negate it a little too.

Should I add texture or do other things with the sea? I'm not going to represent variations of depth in any way, but maybe a covering pattern representing waves, or some faded striping by the shores could make it look nicer?

I like the really basic sea with just the linen texture. There's enough else going on in the map that I think anything more added to the sea might just be distracting.

I really dig that Imperial Eagle symbol thingee over that capital city, and the other little images. They really add to the flavor of the map. I like the border a lot as well, Though I would personally tone the shading around the border down a notch or two.

Very consistent, strong looking map overall!

[Eilathen]

Nice map, i dig it.

Can you link directly to your thread on the CBG? That'd be great.