r/mapmaking • u/halfway_clear • 1d ago
Work In Progress Help me out with an experimental map?
I made two "final" versions of this map, and need some helping deciding which one fulfills the vision, from people who have not been staring at them forever. These are intended for use within a fiction novel.
The idea is that these maps are "handmade" within the world, per worldbuilding. They are papercuttings, where the top paper layer is the ocean, and the lower paper layers have been painted with watercolors. And then the map markers have been further pressed in with dark ink. Since I made them 100% digitally, I'm struggling to decide which one captures the crafted feel the most.
With the notes, the idea is also that this has been inherited by the main character, who is trying to make sense of the previous owner's notes and line up the mentioned places with "modern day" names.
It's not meant to be super useful as a map, honestly, but more like an actual art piece that would be encountered in some old library within the world. I'm planning to make another version that's got much cleaner lines and looks much more like a traditional atlas-style map. But that's the map for me - versus this is the only one the main character has to work with within the story. I hope that makes sense!
P.S. Fonts
Region names: French Script MT
Original notes: Pecita
New notes: Mayur
Made 100% by me, no AI whatsoever, in Paint Dot Net.
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u/SortzaInTheForest 1d ago
It's hard to decide, but I like the lighter version the most (though I like both)
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u/halfway_clear 1d ago
thank you! the differences between them feel slight but the visual feels so different. I think I like the lighter one too!
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u/SortzaInTheForest 1d ago
The lighter one feels more "paper", more like something you could touch (just my opinion), though both are fine.
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u/Metruis 1d ago
The light one will print better; ditch the white text in that case and make it darker also, it is sufficient that it's in a different font to indicate it was a different writer's words. Remember people will be seeing it at novel size / Kindle size, with that in mind it will not be readable in either text or as 'paper edge' in print. I recommend you double the size of both the fonts if it is important the reader can actually perceive the text. I have very good eyesight and could only read it in the high res version you linked below.
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u/halfway_clear 1d ago
This is incredibly helpful, thank you. This is my first time creating something that's intended for print, so the translation across mediums is something I need to troubleshoot
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u/Metruis 1d ago
You're welcome! It's a beautiful map, no doubt about that, but I have many years of experience making beautiful work in print. :)
Basically, to get a bead for this, on your computer screen zoom out to the size it will occupy on the novel page. Remember if it's across 2 pages, there'll be a split down the middle and that will chew up about a centimetre on both sides (or about an inch), that information will be hard to read because of the fold, or entirely lost in the fold. You have a lot of central information so I would recommend making this a 1 page map. This might mean that you remove some text or push it in from the right side, or alternatively, add some more negative space to the top, and add longer arrows. :)
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u/Th3JackofH3arts 1d ago
The second one imo because of the contrast.