Map Project Write-Up

My project for this map project I decided to follow and retrace the places Jesus went during his ministry.  There’s tours called “Jesus Trail” that I have always wanted to do so this assignment was very interesting to do.  It starts out at Nazareth where he grew up there circles are the Israeli area and end in Jerusalem where he was crucified.  Instead of using lines to trace where Jesus had been I used footprints.  My reasoning behind this is because Jesus had walked on foot to all these places.  With a few exceptions when he used a boat to go to a few places.  I depicted this by having a boat at the Sea of Galilee to show the use of a boat sometimes.  I placed footprints ending at the boat then starting again when it is on the land.  It was difficult to place the different cities at their exact locations because some of the places do not exist any more and boundaries have change.  It required me to do some research to pinpoint the best I could.  One thing about my project that I love is the color scheme.  I used my resources from my film editing skills to put together colors that give an “old map feel”.  I believe it does in my map.  Not an old map with just black and white, but like when color was used in printing. To me it provides a vintage look.  I found doing this project very bittersweet.  I enjoyed the researching and learning more about the places that Jesus went.  Yet Illustrator was a frustrating program and it is my first time interacting with it.  I believe that I did a good job as a first-time user.  I have interacted with many programs before, but Illustrator has been the most challenging…so far.  This was an overall good assignment that I can stand behind proudly.  

Chapter 3 Reading Post

I was interested in the article about Will Self.  Just like Will Self, I enjoy walking around as a way to clear my mind.  Will Self used it as a way to help with his drug habits, and I use walking as a method to distress and exercise.  I walk around various roads and trails within my gated community, Lake Manassas.  I have never thought about to learn about the places that I am walking in.  Within the article about Self and his interests in psychogeopgraphy, he mentions about never fully noticing the Thames River.  I looked back at myself and how I never looked at the lake that I live by.  So I walked along the bank and noticed like little ponds around the bank.  It did not flow to the lake, but had its own water source and everything.  I just noticed the different plants that surrounded the bank of the lake that I pass every day.  I believe this is what Self was discussing as he explains what psychogeography is.  He makes a reference to Guy Debord, and how it is an awakening to the world around us.  To take into account the things we see every day.  I believe not just noticing the environment physically, but looking how things are arranged and even the historical background behind it.  However, when reading the article, An Atlas of Radical Cartography, I learned about how maps can be tools for social change.  At first I did not see how that could be possible from just a simple map.  But as I began to think about it, and the different elements that go into the map it became more clear.  Radical Cartography is a tool used to compare how different locations are responding to a certain issue.  Whether it is something like racism, poverty, etc. it shows a comparison of how different locations are responding to an issue and how intense it is.  For example, I have seen maps used to show how much poverty is in the United States.  The use of color is to represent poverty in that location.  Also the darker it is the higher the poverty rates and numbers are in that location.  When a person sees it, they can see how the issue is by locating and discovering the possible central cause for it.  From there implementing needed changes.  I think using maps as a tool for social change to be very effective.  The reason is because it shows the audience the particular issue on a grander scale.  It is a more effective message on the issue of poverty, for example, when the audience can see the rates and numbers across the entire country of the United States instead of just one state alone.  What I take from these readings for my project is to have a purpose for my map.  People just assume maps can show were certain locations are, but I have learned that it can be used for something else.   Having a purpose for my map with give it more depth and meaning whether or not it is prompting for social change.  But having a purpose for my map to show something that the audience will take away from is something that I get from the different readings.  

Google Maps

Jesus Trail

Illustrator Tutotorial