Stephen Smith

Maps and mappers of the 2016 calendar: Stephen Smith

June 1, 2016 by atanas, posted in Geohipsters

In our series “Maps and mappers of the 2016 calendar” we will present throughout 2016 the mapmakers who submitted their creations for inclusion in the 2016 GeoHipster calendar.

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Q: Tell us about yourself.

A: I’m a cartographer by night and a GIS Project Supervisor by day. I work for the Vermont Agency of Transportation where I help our rail section use GIS to manage state-owned rail assets and property. Most of the time my work entails empowering users to more easily access and use their GIS data. I’ve used Esri tools on a daily basis since 2008, but recently I’ve been playing with new tools whenever I get the chance. I attended SOTMUS 2014 in DC (my first non-Esri conference) and was really excited about everything happening around the open source geo community. I got some help installing “Tilemill 2” from GitHub and I haven’t looked back. Since then the majority of the maps I’ve made have been using open source tools and data. Lately I’ve been heavily involved in The Spatial Community, a Slack community of 800+ GIS professionals who collaborate to solve each other’s problems and share GIFs. I’m also starting a “mastermind” for GIS professionals who want to work together and help one another take their careers to the next level.

Q: Tell us the story behind your map (what inspired you to make it, what did you learn while making it, or any other aspects of the map or its creation you would like people to know).

A: This map was a gift for my cousin who is part Native American and works in DC as an attorney for the National Indian Gaming Commission. His wife told me that he really liked my Natural Resources map and she wanted me to make him something similar to the US Census American Indian maps but in a “retro” style. I took the opportunity to explore the cartographic capabilities of QGIS and was very impressed.

Q: Tell us about the tools, data, etc., you used to make the map.

A: I’ve done a full writeup of the creation of the map including the data, style inspirations, fonts, challenges, and specific QGIS settings used on my website. You can also download a high resolution version perfect for a desktop wallpaper.

'Native American Lands' by Stephen Smith — ‘Native American Lands’ by Stephen Smith

13 maps in 13 days: Stephen Smith

December 31, 2015 by atanas, posted in Geohipsters

Sending off the year 2015, we present to our readers the mapmakers who contributed their work to the 2015 GeoHipster calendar.

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Stephen Smith

Q: Tell us about yourself.

Q: Tell us the story behind your map (what inspired you to make it, what did you learn while making it, or any other aspects of the map or its creation you would like people to know).

A: This map was born out of an inspirational post shared on Marty Elmer’s MapHugger blog. In it he featured a wonderful map of Great Britain from the 1940s. I really fell in love with the style of the map and thought it would be a fun exercise to try to replicate and update it using modern tools and data.

Q: Tell us about the tools, data, etc., you used to make the map.

A: I’ve done a full writeup on my blog which discusses in depth the color palette, specific data sources, software used, manual processing, and the stylistic choices I made while creating the map. It also features a high resolution download of the map perfect for a desktop wallpaper.

'The United States - Her Natural and Industrial Resources' by Stephen Smith — ‘The United States – Her Natural and Industrial Resources’ by Stephen Smith

2016 GeoHipster calendar showcases technological and cartographic artistry

November 18, 2015 by GeoHipster Team, posted in Geohipsters

Last month GeoHipster put out a call for maps for the 2016 GeoHipster calendar. The response was overwhelming, with nearly two dozen maps being submitted. The submissions represented a cross-section of the cartographic talent and imagination of the geospatial industry. The GeoHipster advisory board certainly had its work cut out for it.

We would have loved to have simply used all of the maps we received, but Pope Gregory XIII gave us a calendar that only had room for twelve. So we are happy to announce the authors whose work you will be seeing throughout 2016 (in no particular order): Meg Miller, Asger Petersen, Jacqueline Kovarik, Terence Stigers, Katie Kowalsky, Rosemary Wardley, Ralph Straumann, Gretchen Peterson, Jonah Adkins, Stephen Smith, Mario Nowak, and Andrew Zolnai. Congratulations to each of you, and thank you for your support of GeoHipster and your dedication to the craft of mapmaking.

GeoHipster has adopted a mission of exploring the state of the geospatial industry from the eyes of those working in it, and the response from the community has been humbling. Part of that mission is celebrating the great work and creativity resident in the community. As part of that celebration, GeoHipster will be publishing a feature on each map throughout 2016 so our readers can learn a bit more about how and why each map was created. We will be doing this not only for the 12 maps selected for the calendar, but for all of the maps submitted this year, in recognition of the support and creativity shown by all who participated. We are excited to expand GeoHipster to include the art of our community.

Finally, we’d like to give a shout out to Mapbox for their continued support of GeoHipster’s independent content, this time by sponsoring the 2016 calendar. Their support will help expand the types of content we offer next year, including reprising the “young professionals” showcase of up-and-coming talent that was debuted this month.

The calendar is currently being designed, and will be ready to order by the US Thanksgiving holiday. It makes a great gift, and is a super way to answer the inevitable question we all field from our family during the holidays: “So what is it that you do?”

The 2015 GeoHipster Calendar is available for purchase

November 5, 2014 by atanas, posted in Geohipsters

We are excited to announce that the first-ever GeoHipster wall calendar is ready for production. We thank all who submitted maps for the calendar, Christina Boggs and Carol Kraemer for co-originating the calendar idea, and Christina again for her ongoing assistance with logistics and curation.

The 2015 GeoHipster Wall Calendar makes a great holiday gift for the geogeek on your list, so pick up a few. The proceeds from the calendar sales will help GeoHipster offset our operational costs, stay ad-free, and maintain independence.

The 2015 GeoHipster Calendar is available for purchase from CafePress. All calendars are made to order (you need to specify January 2015 as Starting Month (as opposed to the default setting — the current month)).

The calendar features maps from the following map artists (screenshots below):

Gretchen Peterson
Jonah Adkins
Ralph Straumann
Markus Mayr
Bill Morris
Andrew Zolnai
Stephen Smith
Damian Spangrud
Farheen Khanum
Christina Boggs
John Van Hoesen
Steven Romalewski
Joachim Ungar

IMPORTANT! The screenshot below is intended ONLY to give an overview of the overall layout — which map goes on which page, etc. When you order the 2015 calendar, you will get the 2015 calendar. You can verify this by reviewing each individual page online before you order.