Comments for Historiarum

Comment on SketchUp Mania by John Henry

John Henry — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 00:02:59 +0000

Ken,
Wow, all those pieces parts that had to go together. Not as part of one building. Now you have me wondering. What are the sight lines outside the stadium for the new baseball stadiums, Coors field, the nationals etc. Did people even think of that when they put them in. Are these external sight lines along with the neighborhood connection, what endeared people to going to baseball. I’m sure that is a big part of Wrigley field.
Now, I’m going to have to spend time looking up other fields. If I don’t get my Christmas shopping done I’m going to tell everyone it was your fault.

Comment on Definition of a Map by John Henry

John Henry — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:48:43 +0000

I would put my whole idea in here but I can’t post a picture in a comment. I expand this in my blog ( http://notthatmapsheet.typepad.com/not_that_map_sheet/2007/11/maps-are-a-wond.html) but how about a map is a non textual representation of ideas. In reality aren’t all pictures Maps?

Comment on Definition of a Map by Misha Griffith

Misha Griffith — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:53:25 +0000

Ah Ken, you are dancing about architecture. I for one will hold out the Supreme Court justice’s definition of pornography–I know it when I see it. Or how about that scene in the movie “Jaws” when Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider are comparing scars and telling the tales behind them. Yes, we need the symbols, and we need a space to place them. And sometimes those spaces tell us about the relationships between each piece of information. My best friend in high school became a specialist in the workings of the brain–at least that was her research when I last talked to her. She had to work very hard to explain to me how neuro-transmitters work on both electrical and chemical processes to create the synapses that are our thoughts. That memories are not stored as entities in our brains, but that certain ideas trigger the recreation of the synapses that were formed when the action or thought was first acted out. I am afraid I cannot do justice to her science, but the thought of symbols on a map recreating the connections both in the brain and between the symbols on the map has a certain charm. We are hampered with primitive tools–chemical inks on paper or electronic signals inside a computer–in our attempt to recreate these synapses. Or are the maps a way for me to share my synapses with you? Or for us to share Ortelius’ synapses? If I were attempting to define maps, I would start with the idea of shared connections, both between the objects on the map and between the map maker and the map reader. The I would address the idea of distilling and reducing information into a handful of symbols. Face it, by the time we finish we will need a document the size of the OED just to hold our definition. Or maybe we could just draw a map. . .

Comment on Humility is a Hill in Pennsylvania by Misha Griffith

Misha Griffith — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:32:16 +0000

Ken–what style! I mean, really, you captured a real 19th century feel on the Gettysburg map, yet your Washington DC has a very retro/modern attitude. Did you mainly use the angle tool to straighten your lines? I am working the same type of gridwork on Prague, a renaissance city, and I found too many sharp angles give a less-than-accurate look. But with your stylization, it looks hot!

Comment on Humility is a Hill in Pennsylvania by Jason Atkinson

Jason Atkinson — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:51:13 +0000

Shift ensures straight lines? NOW they tell me! Oy vey!

Yours looks a lot like what I did, only on a somewhat smaller scale and you put in a key. I didn’t think about a key. Anyway, nice job. Looks like everyone can hand draw better than I. I think I’ll stick to computers.

BTW, I also ended up having to use multiple layers to make things work.

Comment on Humility is a Hill in Pennsylvania by Ken Albers

Ken Albers — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:12:34 +0000

@Tad-Thanks!

@John-Thanks, as well. Who knew hills lent themselves so well to punnery? Regarding the DC Map, I did use the pen tool throughout, since there was the occasional curve, but I often held down shift to ensure a straight line when it was vertical or horizontal. Maybe the grass is always greener, but I think your Illustrator map of Boston is better than mine. Love the use of the gradient. in the buildings.

@Don-I constructed the map in a series of layers, one for each different color used. I left the background layer blank, so the streets simply filled in as white around the city blocks ( and the other objects). But I found it easier to organize everything using different layers for each color.

Comment on Humility is a Hill in Pennsylvania by Don

Don — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:31:54 +0000

I like how you constructed DC in Illustrator. The fill definitely creates a better representation of a crowded city. I’m curious about how you did the lattice of streets and filled blocks. Did you use a mask? How did you build the layers?

Comment on Humility is a Hill in Pennsylvania by John Henry

John Henry — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:44:03 +0000

Ken,
Your hand drawn map was awesome. I gave up trying to do the hills for the very reason you said. Tyring to get the lines and textures seemed a ‘hill too far,’ for me to climb. On your DC map, did you mostly use the rectangle tool and not the pen tool? I believe that should have been my choice also, your map looks a lot more polished. Looking at your map, I realize I forgot to include a legend with my map.

Comment on Humility is a Hill in Pennsylvania by Tad

Tad — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:41:18 +0000

I don’t know, I think your DC map looks quite nice.

Comment on Birth of a Nation and Other Famous Maps by Chris King

Chris King — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:33:40 +0000

There’s great insight here on the similarity of text and maps! Nice work, Ken. I think that’s an important part of maps that we need to remember as we roll up our sleeves and get deeper into the mechanics of map making.

Also, kudos for finding the Standard Oil map! Not only is that a great piece of history, but it’s a fantastic example of what zoomify affords us! Being able to see the whole map and then zoom down to a level to read all of the fine print is going to be an important technique we’ll need to master.