OUGD406 STUDIO BRIEF 4 - PRIMARY MAP RESEARCH

I came across these two completely different maps, which I thought would help me in designing and organising my map.

Map one - Avoncroft Museum
Avoncroft Museum holds a collection of buildings from across the ages, which was the original buildings that have been transported from their original location to the Museum to save them from being demolished mainly.

I like how the map is central to the back side, with spaces either side of it for the information about what is on the map itself. This creates an effective border for the map, and also makes it easier to read the map, as it isn't crammed full of text. The places on the map are marked with circles and numbers, with the circles different colours depending on what building it is, for example number 33, The Sensory Garden is a green circle because it is part of the landscape features section. This makes it easy to group places together and also to find specific places as well, as some people find it easier to look by colour rather than number. I think this is an excellent layout, as the map is clear to read and to follow, and the colours are appropriate for the museum itself and the colours on the map too. I think this is the kind of layout that would work really well for my map, as I have a lot of places I want to include, and specific categories that they fall into as well.

This is the front side of the map which really isn't that appealing, and doesn't make you want to read it at all being crammed full of text, but for those interested in learning more about the museum this proves an easy opportunity to.

Map two - Culture Diary Liverpool 2015 Jan-Mar by The Double Negative, Matthew Buckton and Sam Garroch
This is a map and guide for what is going on culturally in Liverpool during January-March.

The whole theme of the guide is in this beautiful black and fluorescent pink/orange colours, which makes it look very alive and pop. The illustration on the front cover is unusual and makes you wonder why they have chosen this for the front cover, what is resembles, and intrigues you to look inside to find out more.

This is the map inside, which is the first double page spread in the booklet. the same vibrant colour scheme has followed through to the map section, with the roads and some buildings being made out in black, and key buildings and little landmarks as well as the numbered key have been used the pink/orange colour. This makes these key places stand out really nicely against the contrasting colour of the black and the white background. The bright colour also feels a little special, so this highlights the places importance on the map. It is very geometric and simple making it easy to read and follow.

When you turn over next this is the key to the map, which has the same fluorescent numbered key as on the map, but with the text in black, mainly so you can clearly read the place names. Below each place name there is also an address as well, which allows you to find the place on a digital map as well if you happen to get lost. This is also good as you can ask for directions to the street address as well as the place names, which will make them easier to locate. I think this would be something really useful to include on my map, so that if students get lost they can give the street name and this will hopefully help them find the place easier. The place names are in a bolder and larger point size to the address, purely so that they stand out more as being important, and also to help you read them more easily too.

When you open the guide out fully, this is on the back, which gives a more detailed explanation of the places on the map, and gives dates which events are on at these locations as well, and a brief description of them too, so that you know a bit more about the events themselves before attending. This isn't only useful it also works really well as a poster I'd want to put up on my wall, due to the quirky illustration at the top that has been followed on from the front cover, but also the colours used and the layout of it as a whole, it's very aesthetically appealing. This guide is printed on a reasonable thickness matte stock, but when it's all folded up it feels really sturdy and strong, which is something to consider stock wise for my map.

These maps have been really useful for me to research and look into more depth at, because I think there is definitely aspects of both maps that would be really useful to apply to my own map, as both are extremely successful, although very different.