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The Cartographers’ Guild is a forum created by and for map makers and aficionados, a place where every aspect of cartography can be admired, examined, learned, and discussed. Our membership consists of professional designers and artists, hobbyists, and amateurs—all are welcome to join and participate in the quest for cartographic skill and knowledge.
Although we specialize in maps of fictional realms, as commonly used in both novels and games (both tabletop and role-playing), many Guild members are also proficient in historical and contemporary maps. Likewise, we specialize in computer-assisted cartography (such as with GIMP, Adobe apps, Campaign Cartographer, Dundjinni, etc.), although many members here also have interest in maps drafted by hand.
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As noted in the New Members area, I am new to cartography, but am working on a fairly large and elaborate set of maps and pieces for a complex fantasy world of my design. Many years ago, I started to put a map like this together, by brute force: I scanned a set of maps from the Atlas of Imaginary Places (all one style, and nice), removed all the place names and some other elements, and then glued them together. That was fine, but pretty crude, and lots of things weren't just as I wanted them. Well ...
Hi all Just thought I'd let you know that I have just written a new blog post about the development of the map for Battle Mage, my forthcoming fantasy book. You can find the post here... http://www.peterflannery.co.uk/blog Hope you like it and please feel free to leave any comments. Sorry I've been away for so long but so much to do and so few bain cells to do it with! Cheers The Flanston (Peter)
I’ve posted a few of my maps and more humorous blogs here, but I thought I’d take a moment to talk about one of my favorite more serious characters. He’s an assassin, like my lead character Shade, but he is a ballsy and chillingly capable rival who is a true threat to Shade’s crown as world’s top assassin. I call him Raithe and he’s got quite the tongue on him. Let’s begin with a quote from the man’s very lips: “Of course, I don’t have so widely esteemed reputation as you, Shade, ...
I've noticed lately that there are quite a few city maps popping up here at the Guild. I think that is great. mappers are bravely going off to map these labyrinths of streets and buildings and getting it right. I wonder what the base fear we all have of cities is? Does it have to do with filling ALL that empty space with buildings? Is it getting it to look like something other than a neat orderly grid? If you're anything like me orderly just doesn't feel right. I love a maze of twisted alleys along ...
Well here I am again. Another long absence and another challenge to get me back into the swing. I think I've figured out what happens to me during these "sabbaticals" I take. I tend to have several hundred ideas going round in my head (rather like a hamster that has had a Haste spell cast on it) and sometimes I try to go off and do them all or the biggest one and go directly from inspired to overwhelmed to burnt out all in the span of days. Identifying the problem is key to finding the ...