Map of the Twin Kingdoms of Aran and Ilan - Handdrawn

[- Max -]

I would rather go with hand to make it more natural.

[Caenwyr]

Okay, so here's another update, this time with shadowed forests per Max's suggestion. I also did tons of other little tweaks, but I'm not going to bore you guys with that.

Two versions:

1. with the borders hidden where they overlay the mountain ranges
   
2. with the borders shown, even if they overlay the mountains
   

So tell me!

• Which borders version do you prefer? The unmasked version is clearer informationwise, but it's not as clean and lean as the masked version. Is the added information really worth it?
• The shields! Do you feel they add something to the map? Or are they too colourful and saturated for an otherwise quite toned-down map? Would text labels be better? I got rid of those because of their clunkiness, but is this at all better?

Still to be done: now that I look at the map, I notice almost everything has depth and shadow now... except for the open lands between the forests and the mountains. Maybe I should break out my stylus again and start shading the non-mountainy bits. What do you think?

If you have any other remarks, don't be shy: those are welcome too!

[Deadshade]

I would do away with the shields. For me their colors and contrast clash with the style of the map. But that is a matter of taste.
I have also never considered borders to be important for maps in (quasi) realistic style. So obviously for me less borders is better and none would be best.
In many fantasy novels there are maps with incomplete or outright missing borders (Wheel of Time is an example). Just the name of the province/kingdom gives then a general idea where these entities are without overcharging the map with lines that have only an administrative meaning.

[jbgibson]

Borders on top of mountains is best to my eye - I lose track of whom some bits of territory belong to without that. Roads & rivers ducking behind the mountain symbols is okay. You've got the borders transparent enough to not overwhelm the view.

I like the idea of the shields, and their execution is great. But what you're saying with them so bright atop the subdued rest of the map (which looks perfect btw!) is that they are the most important pieces of data on the whole sheet. You could drop their saturation & intensity a little without making them unrecognizable to locals. That they are separated into the two kingdoms plus 'other' isn't apparent once you go to looking at the map closely. You could give the close viewer a subtle clue by tinting the shield border three different ways. Sure, there's a key, and the ranges define the main boundaries well, but still - on that key map one can't see which bits are unincorporated.

The leading R on some of your mountain labels is smaller than the other capitals - is that on purpose?

I think the open areas have enough 'presence' from just the parchment/leather texture. They don't look like omitted info, but intentional low-detail depiction of low-detail territory.

[Caenwyr]

Thanks for your comments, guys! Guess I'll have to fidget with the shields a bit. I put lots of work in them and I like how they look, but they do indeed demand most of the attention of the viewer, while they're actually not THAT important. Might do away with them eventually. I can see three 1options:

1. tone down the colours and intensity of the in-map shields;
2. remove them altogether, and bring back text labels (even though those too might muck up the balance of the map);
3. remove the shields, and add borders and numbers in the bottom left inset map, referring to the shields in the sidebar (I'll have to add numbers there too, somehow).

I'm also playing with the idea of adding an inner glow effect (like on this ancient map) to the different independent regions:

• blue for Ilan;
• red for Araniell;
• yellow for the Nargwin;
• green for Faltorn; and
• white (or maybe orange, if white doesn't work out) for Gaendyr.

Not sure if that would work well with the rest of the map though.

Ahh, experiments. Always fun to know most of your work is still ahead of you.

In the meantime, don't hesitate to give your opinion and critique, guys, and thanks a lot to those that already have! My map wouldn't have been a shadow of what it is now without your invaluable help.

[Caenwyr]

Hi all. Here's the newest update. Threw out the shields again in favour of the subdued tones of the map. The dotted-dashed principality borders are still there, but to help distinguish between nations, I opted for coloured nation borders. I also adapted the lower left inset map to further clarify the position of the nations (both in and out of the "Ilan and Aran" region).

For the time being, I didn't add any principality names, since attentive map readers should be able to figure those out based on the capital names, which appear both in-map and in the sidebar. Do you think that's enough? Or do I overestimate the intelligence/commitment/enthousiasm of my readers?

[Deadshade]

I really like that. Better than with the shields on.
Personnally I had no difficulty with figuring out the administrative features.
Perhaps a bit more irregularity in the mountains so that it doesn't look like caltrops strewn over a tabletop.

But what is really bad is that there way too many W's in the town names all over the place

[Dee]

I don't think it's too difficult to figure out the names like you're worried about.

Great work so far!

[Ilanthar]

Better without the shields on the map, indeed. You've a lot of informations (including the shields) around the map, so, this last version is just displaying the beauty of the map itself.

[- Max -]

What Ilanthar said Though I'm not entirely sold on the colored non-dotted parts of borders on the mountains, it makes the borders a bit confusing.