So much to do before we leave for Europe in 10 days for Christmas. The maps are coming along but the more we draw the more we want to change the style we have settled on. Ahhh! For example the camino was going to be a yellow dotted line. Now we are thinking that this is too obstructive and does not show anything and in fact covers a lot of stuff up. It would be good if we could find a way to highlight the surface the camino is going over. ie paved road, track or trail. Maybve a yellow line with a heavier stroke if the road is paved. We need more experiements and we are feeling that time is compressing. Our publication date is not looking good. I know I keep on saying this.
People keep on mentioning that they want water proof paper and spiral bound book. Sounds good but would it cost to produce?
Hopefully we can find a week in Europe to catch up on some drawing. I would like to come back from Europe with the maps drawn and then spend time tinkering with them. We shall see what Santa has to say about that.
Our macbook is back from the shop, and right as rain. Onwards!
it seems everytime we get going we go down with a tech problem. Our super intel macbook has started playing up. The thing is only four months old! One guess is the “logic board” what ever that is! sounds very Star Trek! What ever is the matter we need to take it into the shop and get it fixed. The best we can hope for is a 6 day turn around. Our mid march publication date seems to be slipping further away.
Evey project we do seems to have a tech problem. Still this is not as good as our first edition of Walking in Portugal which was delayed because the ship carrying it caught on fire! Maybe we should go old school ludite and hand draw it all, as i sit here with a glass of wine it seems like a good idea.
It’s amazing how much faster things go when you’re doing a map without a lot of contours. We’re starting at either end of the camino, and hope to meet in the meseta, where things are flatter and contours are few and far between.
Outside the basement, there is snow on the North Shore mountains, and the forecast for Friday (hiking day) looks dry for the first time in weeks. Time to play in the snow, maybe?
It is amazing what you can learn from someone who knows more then you. As this is the first time we are using InDesign we decided to take a course at the local University to get up to speed. I felt like the scales had fallen from my eyes by the end of the first session. It helps that we have a new uber-computer but wow InDesign can do so much. I came away thinking that I had learnt a lot but that I had loads more to do but at least I know what I need to learn. Spent the evening setting up Character Syles and feeling very happy.
Work smarter is my new motto.
How do you draw industrial sprawl? Shaded grey looks like a splodge and patterns looks wierd. Although I do like the look of a tiger skin pattern. Not very Spain but it is eye catching! Need to figure this one out as it will make a huge differnce to the look of the maps. Maybe we draw streets but I think they would be too small to see. Add Town plans? Another 4 or 5 maps to draw? That would make us evevn further behind our time line? AS the urban enviroment is where most pilgrims get lost or we certainly do we need to make this clear. Another challange to be delt with glasss of wine in one hand computer in other.
Maps are progressing, and are looking great, but not as fast as we would like. Maybe if we stopped sleeping?
Our new version of Illustrator is a vast improvement on the old one, and we’re making lots of use of shortcuts like graphic style & symbol libraries.
I particularly like our new all-colour symbols. it’s such a revelation drawing a map in colour rather than black and white. It lets us do all kinds of things, like green trees. Trees make me happy at the best of times. Scatter a few hundred on a map, and it takes me back to Navarra or Galicia. (We’re starting at the start and the end of the camino, on the theory that the meseta maps will be easier to draw, being flat, with few contour lines).
So far we have drawn three maps. We are 18 maps behind our now unrealistic production timeline. Maybe we can catch as we go along but I doubt it. Need more hours in the day or a slave. Only 39 more!
The St Jean map is a nightmare. I have had to draw it about 4 times and I hate it. There are so many stupid contours! It is probably the worst to do in that regard so at leaast it is behind us. I am already longing for the meseta. No doubt that will have its own problems.
It does look good so we must not rush too much so we can take the care make it look as good as it can be.
Had a very good consultation yesterday. Should some mock ups to Tony at Wanderlust Traveller’s Store in Vancouver. He liked it and we also waved it under the nose of our Geography friend Shirely as we tucked into one of the best roast beefs cooked this side of the Rockies.
Changed how our profile chart looks so it is alot easier to read and the x and y lines look better. Also this means the map will be slighly larger. Fantastic and loads easier on the eye. We will post an image soon
Winter has come and with it the short days. It makes hiding in the basement easier when you know it is pouring outside. We had over 15cm of rain the last 3 days.
The map progresses. At last we have finished our style sheets and have now moved into the land of gathering our primary sources and compiling them. Our poor scanner is going to pack up soon as it seems to be getting a good thrashing. Once this is all done we can move into the drawing which can come too soon.
Not so sure our time line is realistic. We may have to push push publication date back. We will know more about this once we see how fast the drawing goes.