In this post I want to open up a discussion about distinctional Styles in the CG-community. I am interested in how you devellop your own style and what are your thoughts about it; where does the inspirations came from? The Motivations? And what are the unique moments and decissions that forme your own style? Is it important to have a Style?

Those Questions are a fundament for an open Discussion about the origins and the desires of our mapmaking. I have been growing ever since founding this Forum in Mid-October last Year. Now I would also like to giving back with an active participation in the forum. Ok, now I will start this with my own personal View.

I started drawing maps since childhood, by understanding that a map is a representive of the World, my lifelong fascination was founded. I slowly growed up with Dungeon maps in old SNES Games like Secret of Mana (Seiken Dendetsu) and many more and adored the Books that were included in ther german versions with detailed floorplans from all levels. My first active exploration of isometric perspectiv in visual medias was with 8, when I visited an exebition of the Brueghel, exspecialy of Jan Brueghel the Older, the Satin and Hell Brueghel, and his painting/remake of "Triumph of Death" I was imidatly stuck with awe, a event of such intensity that alterate my stand in life forever since.
Another Key moment in the same year was the confrontation of an Issue of Club-Nintendo featuring an article about Mystic Quest Legend, including a short Monster Guide. This started my interest in Medival Bestinaium, also shortly after found the Bestinarium of creatures from D&D. I spend a lot of my younger years to invent complete compendii about fictional Lands and Creatures, draw whole sets of tausends of selfmade magiccards with a ballpen and A4 papersheets. I have recently finished my MA with a Thesis about Maps as an early Form of Virtual Reality, including analysis of the Modern City after the Texts of Rem Koolhaas and with Links to the Gnostic Paranoia, which was introduces to me by my Friend Omar in my earlier Studies at the University of East London. In this line were also my Researchbook "The Society of Phantasm" about the Iconologia of Cesare Ripa, a iconic Book with influence on the Visual Arts since 500 Years. After this came my research on the Emblematum Liber, an early form of Catalog to the word/picture combination of the Emblem.
The Creation of worlds and its mapping and depicturing have always be my main subject of interests and will follow my professional life. They had influences my choice of study in Fine Art, Communication Arts, Philosophy and Curatorical Praxis. Well I'm still a crappy writer but the theoretical background have turned my view and how I look at maps in a variety of ways. With my participation on CG I hope to devellop even more and find my own style of mapping.