Over the years, I have encountered clients who needed fantasy maps for books or novels which they are writing. These authors usually contract me to develop an imaginative map to complement the characters or world they are building in their storyline.
I will like to call these type of fantasy maps as imaginative map or mystic maps or mythical maps or adventure maps or fictional maps or map of nowhere. Whatever you decide to call such maps, it is basically a map that doesn't represent any location in the real world.
In this post, let's take a look at: What is a fantasy map? What professionals are responsible for making fantasy map? How to make a fantasy map? What technical skills are required for making fantasy maps? What elements are required to be shown on a fantasy map?
What is a fantasy map?
According to Wikipedia, fantasy map is a type of map design that visually presents an imaginary world or concept, or represents a real-world geography in a fantastic style.
Where are fantasy maps use?
Fantasy maps are used in a variety of contexts, primarily where imagination and creativity play a significant role such as in novel/book, Role-Playing Game (RPG), film/drama, or just for fun story telling.
What professionals are responsible for making fantasy map?
Cartographers are the professionals primarily responsible for creating fantasy maps. While the term "cartographer" is often associated with real-world geography, it can also extend to the imaginative realms of fantasy.
In addition to cartographers, artists, writers, and game designers also contribute to the creation of fantasy maps. Artists visualize the map, bringing it to life with illustrations and colors. Writers develop the backstory and lore of the fantasy world, providing context for the map. Game designers incorporate the map into the gameplay, ensuring that it is both visually appealing and functional.
What technical skills are required for making fantasy maps?
Technical Skills for Making Fantasy Maps are;-
- Drawing and Illustration skills
- Design and Layout skills
- Geography and Cartography skills
What elements are required to be shown on a fantasy map?
The Essential Elements for a Fantasy Map include: Landmasses, Bodies of water, Terrain, Borders, Roads, Enchanted forests, Compass rose, Legend or key.
How to make a fantasy map?
Since fantasy maps are not really representing a geographical location in reality, a GIS software won't be necessary. There are tools/software that specializes in making fantasy maps such as:
This tools mainly focus on bringing imaginations into map instead of enforcing geographic location representation.
Also if you are skilled in graphic design software such as Photoshop, GIMP, Inkscape, Coreldraw etc you could make fantasy maps.
Examples of fantasy maps
A fantastic examples of fantasy maps I found is that in the portfolio by Deranged Doctor Design (DDD). On the DDD portfolio page, you will see several examples of how a digital fantasy map was made out of hand drawn imagination.
Another source is the MapEffects.co by Josh Stolarz
Another example is "The Edge Chronicles started with the map".
Also meet Jessica Khoury with beautiful fictional maps in her portfolio.
Alfawa state fantasy map
Let's make a fantasy map of a popular state in the drama series "Kwana Casa'in" on AREWA 24. The state of Alfawa (a fictional city) where Hajiya Rabi Bawa Maikada is the current elected Governor of Alfawa State. The drama is about politics, intrigues power play and corruption.
In the resent episode at the time of writing, 'Haske Party' lost the governorship election to 'Guguwa Party'. Hajiya Rabi Bawa Mai Kada (Fulani) of Guguwa Party got a total of 1,331,000 votes while AVM Adnan of Haske Party got 1,256,000 votes.
Okay, enough about the drama, let's face why we are here! Let's make an imaginary map to visualize the Alfawa state, its LGAs and the election result.
1) Amarmara 11) Kutare
2) Bagauda 12) Maharba
3) Baleri 13) Malamai
4) Barbushe 14) Shekaratafe
5) Biddarene 15) Sulemanu
6) Dadin Kowa 16) Tagwaye
7) Gijimasu 17) Tsumburbura
8) Givari 18) Turawa
9) Janbere 19) Zandandan
10) Kulita 20) Zurkalene
I know that maps above still look like a real map even though they don't represent a geolocation in reality. Lets zoom into a village in Tsumburbura LGA and make a map of that village that will look more fantasy. For this map, I will rely heavily on the "Blaeu Cartography Brushes 2.0 by KMAlexander" and Sketchy Cartography Brushes.
The usual routine is to start with freehand sketching then followed by digitizing it using a graphics tool.
Happy mapping!
No comments:
Post a Comment