The Illustrated map of Amsterdam

The illustrated map of Amsterdam TECHNICAL DATA

This map is a classic prospective view of 45 degree angle and it is a handmade full illustration of the wider center of the city.

 It portrays an area of 12 square km – 4 km length x 3 km width, which is the wider center of the city, including the very heart of it, the historic center of Amsterdam.

 It points and portrays as they appear in they basic architectural form , 87 most                   significant  -in our assessment – sightseeing:  56 monuments and 31 museums.

It has a topographical accuracy of 99% (or 1% loss) against any other topographical map!

It has an index of all mentioned features above for an easier detection in the map.

It contains 99% of the names of Streets, Canals, Squares etc.

The creative part of the project was completed during 2007-8. The Amsterdam s map is the fruit of 15 months,  or about  3.750 hours of creative work.

More specific:                                                                                                                                            3 months scouting the field.    That includes walking through the city (all 12 square km)from the biggest avenue to the smallest alley, taking pictures, videos and sketching on the spot of all the significant features of the city.

2 months designing the prospective 3D model of the depicted area`s topographic map, in a handmade prototype size   1m x 1,60m. This is performed only with the use of a pencil and a grid with great emphasis in the topographic accuracy.

2 months designing all the visual information that has been collected during the scouting process,  on the 3D model. This is the part while the map gets its full illustration and it`s been performed also with pencil so as to be possible any correction or addition during the design process.

3 months of applying the inks. During this process and after a cautious evaluation of the previous pencil design we start the inking procedure. It`s been performed handmade with the use of very fine and thin rapidographs of several kind of point diameters. It is a one of the most rafinate and elaborate part of the design process.

3 months of coloring. After the inks are finished, we remove carefully with a soft rubber any remaining trace of pencil and we are ready to start the colors. This is performed handmade with pencil watercolors and it is exactly the point when the map is actually getting alive!

2months of digital rafination and completion. After all the handmade design are finished the prototype is scanned in a tube scanner so as to create a digital form of it and prepare it for print. During this process we restore digitally any error that might escaped our attention in the previous stages of the design and we add all the helpful details that will give to our map its value of use, beyond its value as a piece of Art: the name plates of the streets, squares , park`s canals etc. which are not possible to be included in the handmade design, as well with the markation of all the significant buildings and area`s that our map signifies and promote to the reader.