The map that I have created above is of immense value for me as this is the map of a place which I call home. The place that you see above is my school located in Ajmer. Mayo College Girls' School is a boarding school and I was sent here when I was 9 years old. In this activity we were asked to create the map of a place which we often visited or of a place that had some meaning for us and for me I think their could be no other place better than this that I could have chosen to create a map on.
Stage 1: Digital Line Drawing
Vibes : Lively, Nostalgic, Peaceful, comfortable, Lush Green
Digital line drawing of the basic layout of the map was quite a difficult task for me because the lines that I had been drawing were not coming out to be consistent and it was difficult for me to insert the curves at the end of those lines as well. In the start it took me a lot of time in order to understand how to go about it but gradually all of it was becoming clear to me as I realised the very basic mistake that I had been making of joining the lines together because of which it was hard for me to bring variations in each of them, so I merged it with the pathfinder tool. Also for curving the lines I had not expanded my selection earlier and after I did that, I was easily able to insert curves by choosing the direct selection tool.
This was the final outcome of the digital line drawing of my map.
Stage 2: Icons
These were the first set of icons that I had created for the map. However I rejected all these icons later because I had taken a reference for these from the flags that each house in my map had and that made me realise that I was not exploring enough and there was no individuality or originality in the icons that I had been creating and therefore there was no thought process of my own behind making them.
Further, these icons were very complex which made it difficult for me to add them in the map as my map was already looking very complex and heavy in structure, so I had to take a smart approach towards selecting and placing my icons.
In my second attempt, I first drew the icons that I wished to add in the map and then explored various options for the same by digitally making them. The icons that I made in this attempt were very basic in nature which in turn was very essential for me to gain in order to match the vibe of my map and add all of them onto the map in an appropriate manner.
I also realised that at first I had a lot of options but then later I thought of combining those options into one to make something new. For eg: I combined the soccer ball with the shoes which gave that icon a unique look and a sense of individuality which I was trying to achieve while drawing them on the paper.
The digital process of making them was also very easy as these icons were very basic and since I had faced a lot of complex work earlier, making them was not a struggle for me.
Stage 3: Colour
Colour played a very crucial role in my map. I used various shades of green in order to achieve the intended vibe of lush green in my map. Further, I took reference from the locality that I had captured in my map by using the photos of that locality and picking up colours from within those photos. I did so because I wanted my map to have that feeling and make the viewers feel and experience the natural vibe that the place actually holds in reality.
I mainly used different shades of brown ,green, red and black to set a harmony of the map and added shadow underneath my icons in order to highlight them and add depth to them rather than keeping them flat.
Further, I added depth to the these buildings by using the inner glow effect and achieving a 3 dimensional look in my composition.
Stage 4: Final Digital Map
At the end I placed all the icons onto the map and and inserted text wherever needed. While doing this I also realised that adding icons made my map look filled up and before that it was looking very empty and something had been missing in it.
CONCLUSION
I think one of my major successes in this project was overcoming the mundane idea of keeping things normal and simple. I learnt this through the attempts that I made during stage 2 of this project by applying my own understanding and creativity while making an icon.
I was able to achieve the 3 dimensional look that I wished. However, if given a chance I would like to improve on the angles of the lines that I made in each building to achieve that look as many of them do not have a same angle of inclination in it and now that I am aware of the process of making a 3d figure, I think things will turn out to be much smoother and easier for me in future.
Most importantly, I was able to achieve the intended vibe that I had set for my map in the very first stage of this project.
Revised Version of the map
After completing the map, I realised that the lamps that were placed in it were not showing because of the roads being black in colour and some of my icons were hiding due to the extremely bright colour which was given to the buildings. I also realised that the bright shades of red present in my map were not giving it the intended vibe of comfort, therefore I decided to reverse the colour of the lamps and the roads i.e making the roads grey and the lamps black in colour and then further darkening the shades of red in order to give my map a comfortable vibe.
This also ended up giving my map a rustic look which truly matches my map because of the place being a boarding school and established long ago.
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