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Nice map indeed. I agree about the text though. The background could do with being lighter so that the text is a little easier to read. That would keep the concept of a hand drawn map but make it a little easier on the eye.
Have some rep!
I don't know how to do that, I'm not that good!Originally Posted by loydb
Plus, I think it would destroy the look of the map. It's meant to look like a real map made with Victorian/WW1 era technology, not futuristic with glowing letters.
Thank you!
Nice map indeed. I agree about the text though. The background could do with being lighter so that the text is a little easier to read. That would keep the concept of a hand drawn map but make it a little easier on the eye.
Have some rep!
Hopefully this map will be easier to read for the blind ones among you.
This is part of a small poster which is issued by the Institute for the Study of Other Timelines [I.S.O.T., an AH.com in-joke which you won't get, but nevermind], an organisation dedicated to the study of alternate worlds using their timestream jumping and time travel technology [also teleportation, in order to ensure that their Agents appear in exactly the right place and not in the middle of a crowd of people].
The Institute's general procedure for when they find a new timeline is to assess whether it has been/is being/will be tampered with [time travel messes up the tenses a bit]. If it has been/is being/will be/whatever tampered with then they try to stop it. If they determine that they can't find who has/whatever tampered with it then they lock that timeline off, occasionally doing extra sweeps for interference in case more evidence presents itself.
If the timeline hasn't been interfered with or they can stop any form of interference then they study the timeline for a bit, determine the current situation of the world, analyse key differences between this history and our own, and try to pin the exact point of divergence within a certain century.
The timeline is then assessed as to whether it's important in anyway, some sort of unique/relatively unique features may be enough to have the timeline be open to study, generally timelines with history close to our own are open for study in order for the Institute to better understand our own reality.
Some especcially important timelines are open for active study, i.e. the Institute is actively sending in research teams in order to learn more, whereas timelines that are open for study aren't being actively investigated, but teams are occasionally sent in when the Institute doesn't really have much else to do.
The poster of which this is a piece of is part of an introductory package given to prospective Agents who need to do a great deal of case studies and essays on various timelines and areas of history [they are never actually allowed into a timeline, though]. The timeline described in this poster is Timeline 181, a timestream which is under active study, and so it has the greatest amount of information recorded about it.
The specific point of divergence of the Timeline 181 is not known, but their history is quite similar to our own and appears to work on the same principles [as opposed to history in other timelines which seem to make no sense at the first glance], this world has diverged from ours and yet has resulted in a reasonably similar result, so it is a good timeline to study in order to better understand our own reality. It's also not as complicated as some alternate realities, so it makes a relatively easy case study for prospective Agents.
Anyway, enough of me waffling, here's the map. I intend to finish the rest of the poster, one day...
I like the color scheme and texture of your first map, but I also have a hard time reading the text.
I don't know that it's a question of the image being too dark; I think it's more a question of contrast. You're using black text over bold, highly saturated colors, and, especially over coastlines, it becomes difficult to "see" the edges of the letters.
I can think of two things that might work for you, if you're inclined:
If you're not particularly attached to the text being black, changing it to another color, as long as it's not one of the colors used under the text of course, would significantly increase the readability.
Alternatively, if you want to keep the black text, you could outline the text in a contrasting color; white would probably be best. Even a one-pixel-wide outline would help the text stand out against the things going on behind it.
Your second map is very cool. I like the flags as the fill for the different areas, though some of the busier ones obfuscate the borders of the countries. If the flag fills are on different layers, you might try lowering their opacity slightly.
Great maps all around!
This talk of timelines reminded me of this little work of fiction:
http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-wikihistory.html
Enjoy!
-Rob A>
My tutorials: Using GIMP to Create an Artistic Regional Map ~ All My Tutorials
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Another map involving Timeline-181 from the Institute, from a rather worn-looking library book.
"The Institute would like to issue a warning to all Agents, prospective, Senior or ordinary, and all other employees to not remove important ISOT informative posters and announcements from the walls upon which they are displayed. People found doing this may be subject to a fine of up to £100. Prospective Agents found doing this may face being kicked off their course of learning. Repeated offences may result in reduced pay or termination of employment for any employee.
We understand that it is only a small number of you doing this, and ask the orderly amongst you to be vigilant in stopping this problem."
That's sweet. My only suggesting would be perhaps a tiny bevel or even perhaps a stroked line around the poster border to make it stand out from the wall it's posted on. Neat Idea!
My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
My Tutorials:
Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
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Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Oh, one other tiny nit to pick if you wanna fix it. Your two pushpins have the light coming from the center instead of the picture, ie the highlights of the 3D pushpins seem to have different light sources. Might want to rotate one or the other so the they have generally the same light source. This is assuming that the light source is not coming from being directly shined onto the poster itself from a source lower than the poster.
My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
My Tutorials:
Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
----------------------------------------------------------
Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
How about this?
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