In the life of a busy cartographer, Google Earth is as handy as the pipe wrench my plumber brings to our frequent get-togethers.
Google Earth is an effective environment to map points-of-interest or to fine-tune the positions of points you export from Adobe Illustrator via Avenza MAPublisher.
But here’s a surprise: when importing a Google Earth .kml/.kmz file into Illustrator, Google’s playful icons enter your map file as editable icons. Here’s what you can do to them.
With its vector and raster tools, Adobe Illustrator is the graphic designer’s Swiss Army knife.
Recently, I created an image showcasing some of my logos for my homepage slideshow. Because the slide was sitting on a white page, I wanted to give it some color to make it stand out from the surrounding page. While a solid, pastel background would have worked, I wanted something a little more dynamic and a lot more organic. To convey the idea of designing logos, I thought about a sheet of graph paper as a background to the logos.
Illustrator CC’s June 2013 edition brings several enhancements to the software that can make your maps more creative. The new Touch Type tool lets you turn a plain map title into a stylistically unique image.
The Touch Type tool lets you edit the size, position, and angle of individual letters in a word while keeping the type editable. An update to the The Adobe Illustrator CS6 WOW! Book includes a detailed a step-by-step tutorial about using the Touch Type tool. But while you’re here, here’s a quick teaser.
Everyone knows the iconic Google map marker. Looking like a hot air balloon in flight, this marker has landed squarely in the middle of our visual culture.
Many maps use similar-looking markers. While you can find lots of alternative marker shapes and designs online, why not be a little different and let Adobe Illustrator transform your markers into eye-popping icons? Placing your icons under the creative control of the Appearance panel gives you a myriad of visually sophisticated options.
Simonetta Moro (simonettamoro.com), an Italian-born artist now living in New York City, explores the meaning of places she loves and lives through cartography. Approaching maps not as a reader but as a maker, Moro layers the signs and symbols of city nuances in pencil, paint, ink, and pastels.
From the vocabulary of soft pastels and hard-edged colored pencils, Moro traces an autobiographical journey through an intimate geography of the places that hold significance in her life.
Map of My Life (detail)
We're professional cartographers and graphic artists. We've been making custom maps, graphics, and web images since 1997. Wow...that's a long time!
Learn more About Us.
