Imaginary Geography

[Kellerica]

I haven't shared much on the Guild in a long time. Most of the mapping I do these days is commission work, and for some reason I'm always a bit more reluctant to share those. But in 2022 I did have the pleasure of working on a couple of really cool projects, and there really isn't any real reason not to share them, so here's the first one!

This map was created for Vapriikki, the Finnish museum dedicated to games and gaming. It was a part of their "Mielikuvituksen maantiede - Imaginary Geography" exhibit, dedicated to maps and their use in games. I'm sure I don't need to tell you why this project was an absolute blast to work on! In addition to the map, I also created the layout for all the title cards for the items on display, as well as a little booklet they were selling at the museum gift shop.



The map itself was designed to include bits and pieces of the various game maps on display, containing references to the games they were connected to, and used to create a fictional meta realm with the shape of Finland still recognisable under it all. Most of the games on display were Finnish, so I assume the refences won't mean much to most of you, and of course the map itself is in Finnish too, but I hope you can still appreciate it at least a little.

The map was used as an introduction to the exhibit, printed on a large banderole intended to draw people in. Here's a shot of the artist himself next to his creation to show you how big it actually was!
(photo taken by Ifrix)



And yes, before you say anything, I know there is a river violation in there! I had no choice and yes, it bugs me too!