GrumpyOldMan said:
There is no reason why maps can't both look good, and be functional. The original Hârn map, even though its close to 30 years old is IMO, a case in point. Of course function is fairly easy to define, it’s simply the amount of information given to players & referees. Beauty, however, is more a matter of personal taste.
This was my goal with the new Wilderlands of High Adventure maps Geoffrey mentions above. Originally I wanted to recreate the original look and feel of the classic Judges Guild maps, but discovered that the process these days cost as much as printing in full color (and the paper JG used is incredibly expensive, too). So I decided I wanted to go with colr after all. But I hate beautiful, colorful maps that are, frankly, useless in game (Planescape, I'm looking at you!) So the new maps not only had to look good, they had to be eminently functional.
My first thought was to get Mark Smylie, the artist and creator of Artesia, to draw my maps; unfortunately, though he was very interested in the project (Mark's a Wilderlands fan, and worked on the Necromancer boxed set), he was far too busy. Then I contacted Diesel, who used to do cartography back in the day at TSR, but he's busy with his sculpting career. And Lazzeratti, Kauth, and Gamble are all busy working for WotC or Paizo, so I didn't even bother trying to contact them.
I mentioned my inability to find a good cartographer to my artist and graphic designer, Peter Bradley. Peter said, "Um, hello, I too am a cartographer." So after a "D'oh!" moment we talked about what I wanted to see in a map, which was unlike any he had ever really done before. After much going back and forth, trial and error, Peter didn't merely exceed my expectations, he completely blew them out of the water and produced an amazing map; no, not a map, but instead a piece of cartographic art. It's absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to see what the next map will look like (next up: the Roglaras, the heartland of the Wilderlands, where can be found the City State of the Invincible Overlord, the dwarven realm of Thunderhold, and much more).
Check out the link on my website; you can see 1/4 of the map on the product page.
