A Question of Style

[Azélor]

Maybe you could add a varnishing effect on the wood or simply adding light reflection.

As for the font, the one you used at the bottom seems pretty nice. Other than that I'm not really sure it fit but maybe you could look toward the steampunk style to get some ideas. Maybe something like on the image of your character, something with crossed metal bar or made of pale stone (kinda like a celtic cross)

Looking at your character you might want something more futuristic. Try typing "art déco revival". There is interesting stuff out there.

I'm not sure what you mean by solid color but if it's something like the brown on this background, by experience (but I don't have that much) it's not really apropriate for a map but there might always be exeption. It all depend of the style because the map in the Queen Marie 2 is pretty.

[Vagabondage]

I'm unsure of what exactly you're asking for but judging on what you have said of your current WIP and your problems, I'll give my two cents.

I'm probably preaching to the choir, but when I hear art deco, I think of organic and sometimes geometric, simplistic, repeated patterns in gold, black, and soft neutral tones. You could easily work such patterns into landforms, water currents, and foliage. Harsh angles, while probably compromising the organic feel of your piece, of the coastlines might aid that look. Using small illustrations in the borders of people in 20s/30s garb and small boats/ships of the era in the seas is a surefire way to get your audience to understand what year it is or is supposed to be like.

As far as font goes, I think clear and elegant cursive handwriting would portray a 20s feel. Fat fonts could work if text-box borders or larger titles were decorated with those patterns I mentioned earlier. You can always use a font as a starting point and then draw around those characters on your own. If you are absolutely insane, you could write some sections in Gregg shorthand (which was still taught in the 30s, I think...). It would definitely help with that high-fantasy feel.