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Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

dominik-schwarz.net

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Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#171

Post by albatross_down »

Mtinie wrote: post #90
Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #15

"OpenStreetMap... the additional work to custom style the maps would be extraordinary" It absolutely wouldn't. Download TileMill or its successor, Mapbox Studio. Adjust the (Carto)CSS. Done. Though for a map of this scale I'd probably work straight from Natural Earth[1] without involving OSM, to be honest. Looks great, anyway. [1] http://www.naturalearthdata.com/

I'll be honest, I never really gave a lot of thought to whether or not I'm a "map lover" until this HN topic appeared in my feed, but your comment hooked me in... ...so much for this morning's priorities. /sigh If you're familiar with the Natural Earth data set, do you know if it is possible to apply a transformation so a map could be printed of the World using the Cahill or Waterman projection? I can envision a stri…

You can download QGIS and change the projection system pretty easily. It's also useful for doing other things like simplifying geometries, removing extra data columns, etc.

Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#172

Post by rconti »

haberman wrote: post #153

I am so conflicted about the "pins on a map" practice of marking your travels. On one hand I totally buy the article's explanation: "Putting pins in a map is something I've loved doing for many years. They inspire me and remind me of great experiences." But on the downside, I'd be really afraid that the completionist in me would be motivated to visit exotic places because of the pin I'd be able to add to the map. ie.…

That actually sounds like a fantastic way and reason to experience the world. It's far better than most systems people use to pick travel spots: speak the language, major capital city I've heard of, etc etc.

Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#174

Post by twic »

natural219 wrote: post #140
fro wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can edit all of that with CartoCSS. OP made a great map, but Mapbox Studio really is ideal for a project like this. https://www.mapbox.com/guides/cartocss-in-studio/#studio

It doesn't follow that because CartoCSS/Mapbox studios is "editable", "customizable", and "easy", that the specific combinations of configuration and adjustment available would meet his complex criterion of minimizing time, effort, money, and aesthetics. I'd imagine Google Maps is optimized to a T for all of the tiny specific label placements you want, and I'm not convinced from the one-off choice it would have been…

> I'd imagine Google Maps is optimized to a T for all of the tiny specific label placements you want

As i noticed the other day, they certainly have a very precise notion of where Great Britain is:

http://i.imgur.com/GMqYfkM.png

Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#175

Post by freyfogle »

jamesfe wrote: post #102

I was formerly a cartographer with the military; I have lots of experience with large format maps, both of the world and of single countries (usually Iraq). It was fun to read an article about a map that wasn't hastily tacked up on a wall with nails or duct tape. A few notes: - Paper sags over time. Good thing he mounted it to a board - We printed on tyvek for water/rip proofing, which was interesting. It's surprisin…

if you want water/rip proffing, allow me to introduce http://www.splash-maps.com

Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#176

Post by freyfogle »

Goladus wrote: post #53
dietrichepp wrote: post #7

This guy "loves world maps" but chose Mercator for the wall of his room? I guess there's no accounting for taste. There are hundreds of projections to choose from, why choose the one optimized for navigation by compass ?

> I guess there's no accounting for taste. Unless you're a hipster nerd trying hard to seem sophisticated. In that case, fashion is everything.

relevant: http://geohipster.com/

Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#178

Post by nemo1618 »

quinndupont wrote: post #85

This is so brilliantly reminiscent of Borges' famous fiction: On Exactitude in Science Jorge Luis Borges, Collected Fictions, translated by Andrew Hurley. ...In that Empire, the Art of Cartography attained such Perfection that the map of a single Province occupied the entirety of a City, and the map of the Empire, the entirety of a Province. In time, those Unconscionable Maps no longer satisfied, and the Cartographer…

So was that map the territory, or not?

Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#179

Post by contravariant »

castell wrote: post #19
xt wrote: post #5

Very cool. But I was surprised to see he chose Mercator. See: https://xkcd.com/977/

I thought that too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection Which map projections would you choose? A difficult decision: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_map_projections

Well, if you want something rectangular, preserving area, with vertical meridians then you automatically end up with a cylindrical area projection. If you want an aspect ratio of 3/2 (approximately) you end up with the Gall-Peters projection. Although if you're prepared to cut out part of the map then you have a lot more freedom in your choice.

Edit: Just discovered that if you prefer a conformal map instead of one with equal area then you end up with the Mercator projection.

Re: Printing a wall-sized world map and what I've learned from it

#180

Post by igravious »

nemo1618 wrote: post #178
quinndupont wrote: post #85

This is so brilliantly reminiscent of Borges' famous fiction: On Exactitude in Science Jorge Luis Borges, Collected Fictions, translated by Andrew Hurley. ...In that Empire, the Art of Cartography attained such Perfection that the map of a single Province occupied the entirety of a City, and the map of the Empire, the entirety of a Province. In time, those Unconscionable Maps no longer satisfied, and the Cartographer…

So was that map the territory, or not?

I guess cuz it's fiction then the answer is no, the map is not the territory. Or come to think of it, maybe yes. Or both. Or neither. I actually have no idea. That's why I hate lit-crit. I do love me some Borges though. Maybe best not to sweat it.
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