Tracking the Hogwart's Express

[aeshnidae]

My entry for the Sept./Oct. 2018 Cartographer's Guild lite challenge, “map something from Harry Potter.” I immediately knew I wanted to map the Hogwart’s Express in the style of patent art, but decided that for a challenge entry, this needed something more and I wanted to tell a bit of a story. So I made a vintage-style map of the British railways (taking massive liberties because the real rail maps are dense with information), added “handwritten” annotations to it, and then added some Polaroids, a used train ticket, and a note. The patent papers and rail map were hand drawn on a Wacom Intuous tablet in Photoshop.

WIP thread is here: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=42470.

For the patent papers, the fonts are Times New Roman, JMH Typewriter Mono, and DrewHandwriting2. For the rail map, the fonts are Jellyka – Nathaniel a Mystery (handwriting) and Copperplate Gothic Bold. For the ticket, the fonts are Copperplate Gothic Bold, JMH Typewriter, and Hammerkeys (ticket side numbers).

The note paper and table are photographs I took. The Polaroids I assembled from photos found online and then aged in Photoshop.

[Kellerica]

Carefully laid out composition with a lot of great details to catch the eye, this is fantastic! I love the train carriage floor plan. Great stuff!

[aeshnidae]

Thank you, Kellerica! I had a great time putting this all together. I wound up printing out individual pieces of it for my nephew, who is currently obsessed with all things Harry Potter.

[PaperGriffin]

That's a gorgeous map.

[aeshnidae]

That's a gorgeous map.

Thank you! I am particularly happy with how the used ticket turned out.

[MistyBeee]

I always have a special crush for this one. The blueprint and the map are just perfect

[Ilanthar]

Very nice work on this one! I love the whole composition and the wagons plans in particular.

[aeshnidae]

Awwww, shucks! Thanks all!