Maps can look absolutely incredible, but they require a lot of focus and dedicated effort. Whether you’re an artist, adventurer, geographer, engineer, statistician, or just a fan of good design, quality cartography can bring you a whole lot of joy.
The ‘Epic Maps’ account on X (formerly Twitter) is a fabulous project that celebrates great examples of cartography. Many of these designs are unique, creative, and unusual, so we wanted to share the very best ones with you, dear Pandas. Scroll down for a look, and don’t forget to upvote your favorite ones!
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The curator of ‘Epic Maps’ states that their goal is to share “educational and informative” world maps. This hasn’t changed over the years since the account was created in December 2020.
Currently, around a million X users follow the project on the social network. The curator also has a weekly newsletter you subscribe to and runs a YouTube channel, as well as an Instagram account.
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The difference between great maps and subpar ones lies in the balance between function and form. Obviously, a proper map needs to provide some sort of relevant and practical information for the user. It needs to be detailed enough to be useful, but not overwhelmingly so to the point of confusion.
Visual clarity is massively important, from the fonts and symbols you use to the overall aesthetic. Deciding not to feature certain information can be just as important as what you do decide to showcase. Simplicity is key. Clutter is bad (unless it’s extremely aesthetic and intentional). The clearer and simpler a map is, the easier the information it features is understood, the better.
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A good-looking map that serves no actual purpose will be just that—a nice decoration. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. Many people frame maps from fantasy and sci-fi worlds and give them a place of honor on their walls and shelves. You probably know some people who have detailed maps from The Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, and A Song of Ice and Fire at home.
Meanwhile, a map that is overwhelmingly functional and loaded with super-relevant info might help you with your job. However, if there’s no flow to the design and no clear aesthetic, it’s probably not something you’d be rushing to show off to others. Unless they’re in the same professional field as you are.
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Blend the two—good design and practicality—and you have the foundation for something that’s not only appealing to the eyes but also useful and informative. In our experience, the maps that tend to go the most viral are either incredibly unique looking or they blend an artistic look with some truly good information.
With so much content on the internet and especially on social media, even very educational maps probably won’t get as much attention as they deserve if they lack the aesthetic oomph. They simply wouldn’t be able to stand out from the crowd.
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There’s a ton of proof that the internet is madly in love with cartography (even if many people just like looking at cool and pretty pictures). ‘Epic Maps’ is far from the only project that brings the best and most interesting maps to the forefront of the internet.
There are many others, often boasting hundreds of thousands and even millions of dedicated fans. And there are lots of truly talented cartographers out there, both amateur and veteran alike.
For example, the founder of one globally famous cartography-oriented online community, Patrick who also works as a land surveyor, previously explained to us why people decide to make maps in the first place. According to him, there are many possible reasons.
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“Sometimes for navigation, sometimes for showing statistical phenomena, and sometimes for fantasy. While artistic skill helps, it is not absolutely necessary,” he said. “The important thing is to make it easy for users to glean useful information. Most maps should have a thesis or a story it is going to tell and this needs to be told through the map.”
Many people feel inspired to go on more adventures in life after poring over a particularly good map. But that hype, energy, and motivation can fade once you start considering how tough it can be. You can get a tad overwhelmed. According to the land surveyor, there’s no alternative to seizing the day and following your dreams ASAP.
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“I've noticed, especially as I've gotten older, that you only have so much time on this planet and every day that is wasted is a day that you'll never get back. If you want to get out and explore the world you just have to do it,” he told us earlier. “Some adventures will cost time and resources, but the real question I ask myself is can I afford not to do some goal I have my heart set on. There are so many opportunities in this world that it may be hard to choose, but if you wait too long those opportunities will be gone forever.”
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Meanwhile, the co-founder of another popular cartography-focused social media project, Erik, previously told Bored Panda that a map can be very powerful. “It is an effective way to communicate a phenomenon that has geographical or spatial relevance. From demonstrating the obvious of how neighboring countries see each other, to conveying complex information about the state of nature using remote sensing data," he said.
"In an ever-complex world, with apparently ever-complex challenges, from climate, nature, geopolitics, war, energy security, and human rights issues—maps enable us to understand and navigate the ever-evolving complexity of our societies.”
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Many social media content creators who share maps put in the effort to double-check at least some of the information featured in the images. They might do a general review of the data, but verifying every single tidbit can be quite impractical.
However, those people who actually end up making (and selling) their own maps go even further, using data and satellite data from trusted sources.
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Which of these epic maps did you like the most, dear Pandas? Which ones surprised you with their content? Are there any that you’d actually consider printing out and hanging up at home?
Have you ever sat down and made a map for any reason? We’d like to hear your thoughts on everything. If you have a moment, share your opinion in the comments section at the bottom of this post.
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