I hope lengthy praise isn’t a faux pas (voice-activated software makes it far too easy to spit out volumes of nonsense), but here how I voted and why:

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tőff’s Woadsbury: This map contains one of the strongest abstract patterns I’ve seen, elevating it from simple cartography to art.

By changing the shapes, sizes, interior colors, and border solidity of the rectangular forms, tőff made the boxes echo each other without ever becoming repetitive. This echo creates a visual cadence that sweeps my eyes around the picture plane, delighting at the variety. Each boxed map feels like a new treasure chest I get to explore. The strong linear element of the river in the main map ties up the composition. I ride along the river and its tributary, which carries me back to the vignettes repeatedly. The timeline the vignettes present flows naturally, right to left, then top to bottom, but simultaneously unexpectedly in their rhythm, punctuated by the title, the heraldic device, and the nifty country map and pull-out. This thoughtful, logical, and yet quirky flow engages me more in the maps' content – the changes to the village over time – than I would have been if you’d just lined the era boxes up in a row or stacked 'em up in a column. Composition serves content.

And I need not comment on the exceptional skill used to execute the image’s myriad details. But I can’t help but compliment the visual wonder the image as a whole inspires through its unexpected placement of elements. If this weren’t a map, if it were just colors and shapes and values stripped of narrative content, I’d still be enthralled.

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Immolate’s Leonardo’s Landscaping: I can’t imagine a more charming idea for a “before and after” map! But Immolate also presents all of its elements with such care and delight. I can’t find a weak moment in the entire presentation. The magazine pages, the landscaping logos (big and small!), the advertiser’s pitch, the anecdotes, the smart little surprises (The Gnome Depot, Google Oerth!), all come together to look professional while simultaneously carrying the humor. That’s what makes it so charming.

When I zoomed in on the “before” side and saw the orcs’ catapult, I roared! The grunge that the “before” image evokes makes me want to take a shower. I swear I can smell the place through my computer screen. And the after side rocks too! Nice lighting, gloriously three-dimensional trees full of color and depth, fabulous gazebo cupola, perfectly manicured details throughout.

Juxtaposing pictures of the hotty elf with the classic garden gnome got me laughing again. You captured both my and my grandmother’s interest in fantasy. Didn’t think that could be done!

Inspired thought, beautifully executed . . . and funny!

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Coyotemax’s Gelderland: Once again, humor carries the day! The map is gorgeous, wonderfully distressed, an example of how to do this kind of thing. But I didn’t really appreciate it until just now, when I zoomed in and began reading all the marginalia. Very, very smart! Characters revealed through different handwriting and voices. I’m ashamed I failed to see the brilliance in this entry earlier, particularly since Coyotemax has been so helpful developing my own piece.

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I need more votes to cast!! I almost voted for Ascension’s Voyage of the God Slayer for the sheer freakin’ beauty of the piece! LOVE the posterized style! Damn, that dude’s got chops!

Sapiento’s Piktoplano Magnifiko also embodies a splendor that comes only from real love of our craft. I’m enthralled by his subtle, earthy palette, presented with such nuanced balance. But the compass rose! Damn! I’m stealin’ that thing for one of MY maps! (Did I say that out loud?)

jerrican’s lusciously colored before-and-after image portraying Chaskar’s death also captivates me. I particularly like the prominence of the vestigial border of the continent on the dead planet, a visual marker of all that’s been lost. It’s hard to effect an image of such overall beauty while conveying such a grim theme, so I wish I hand another vote to laude this success.