Fantasy cartography

A map of the fictional kingdom of Aredia, which is a generic campaign setting used in role-playing games
A Visualization of The Cartographic Process
A map of the fictional Island of Sodor from The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry

Fantasy cartography, fictional map-making, or geofiction is a type of map design that visually presents an imaginary world or concept, or represents a real-world geography in a fantastic style.[1] Fantasy cartography usually manifests from worldbuilding and often corresponds to narratives within the fantasy and science fiction genres. Stefan Ekman says, "a [regular] map re-presents what is already there; a fictional map is often primary – to create the map means, largely, to create the world of the map."[2]

Whilst cartographic fantasy has been popularized by novels of these genres it has also become a standalone hobby and artistic pursuit.[3][4][5] Cartographic fantasy has its historic origins in mythology, philosophy, literature and natural sciences.[6][7] Although typically geographical, cartographic fantasy can include planetary, galactic, and cosmological maps; conceptual maps;[8] and speculative maps.[1] Fantasy maps are created and presented across different media[9][10] such as books, television shows, movies, video games, tabletop games, and websites; and are characterized by aesthetics, themes and styles associated with the world or concept they are portraying. The increased popularity of geofiction and worldbuilding has led to and been supported by the emergence of design programs tailored to creative cartographers.[11][12]

  1. ^ a b Post, Jeremiah Benjamin (1979). An Atlas of Fantasy. London: Souvenir Press. pp. ix.
  2. ^ Ekman, Stefan (2013). "MAPS". Here Be Dragons: Exploring Fantasy Maps and Settings. Middleton, CT: Wesleyan University Press. p. 20.
  3. ^ "OpenGeofiction:About". OpenGeofiction. 26 September 2021.
  4. ^ Stockton, Nick (14 August 2013). "You won't believe how insanely detailed this guy's fictional maps are. Seriously". Wired.
  5. ^ "The World Fantasy Map Panel". The Map Room. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  6. ^ Miller, Laura (2016). Literary Wonderlands: A Journey through the Greatest Fictional Worlds Ever Created. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers.
  7. ^ Waymack, Anna F.; Greenlee, John Wyatt (2020). "In the Beginning Was the Word: How Medieval Text Became Fantasy Maps". Studies in Medievalism. 29: 183–200.
  8. ^ "370 – Palestine's Island Paradise, Now With a Word from its Creator". Blog. StrangeMaps. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  9. ^ Medyńska-Gulij, B.; Forrest, D.; Cybulski, P. (2021). "Modern cartographic form of expression: The renaissance of multimedia cartography". ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 10 (7): 484. doi:10.3390/ijgi10070484.
  10. ^ Kinberger, Michaela (26 February 2009). "Cartography and Art". Book. Springer Berlin Heidelberg: 1–11. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-68569-2_22. ISBN 978-3-540-68569-2.
  11. ^ Uliano, Sam (15 May 2020). "Wonderdraft Review: A Whole New World". D20 Collective.
  12. ^ Malinauskas, Rokas (7 January 2021). "Inkarnate Pro Review: Is It The Best Map Making Tool?". Dungeon Goblin.