Historical Mapping
Weight: 5%
Due: Week 3 (January 23rd, 2019)
For your second assignment, your group will create a top-down floor plan for your historical project. This is largely an individual assignment that your group members will eventually mash together into a team generated map. As such, each team member will receive individual assessments based on the quality and creativity of their contributions.
Watch your scope!!
Smaller spaces with greater detail is always preferred.
Step 1: Thumbnails (Individual)
First, each team member MUST generate quick thumbnail drawings of individual rooms, places or locations, each with specific PURPOSE, that they intend to include in their map design, based on ideas formed in the mind mapping exercise.
You’ll want to do lots of these, and pick only the very best ideas for your design. Remember to include lots of labelling and design notes so everyone gets a good idea of what you intend to make.
If you hand draw these in a sketchbook, you’ll need to scan them and clean them up prior to submission as digital images. On the other hand, feel free to use Limnu to whiteboard your ideas on the grid provided on the server. To use Limnu, go to:
Once you have all your ideas down, snap out images of your ideas from limnu (Export) and save them to a folder called Thumbnails_LastnameFirstinit.
Step 2: Mapping (Individual)
Now, mash them together into one complete location using Photoshop or another illustration package of your choice (Illustrator, Sketchup) for your final map. This will produce a very clean diagram, and gives you the benefit of quick clean up, layers, and multiple ‘Undos’.
You MAY do this step with Limnu, but only clean diagrams please! This should not be sloppy, and you may decide Photoshop is the better choice here, as it will make mashing the best of the levels together easier later, simply by importing layers from one PSD to another, and it's far easier to generate a clean map.
When using Photoshop, save your digital files in JPEG format. Make sure the image resolution is set to 300 dpi (default is 72 dpi) before you start so that you can get a nice, clean print out of your maps. Use a grid as a background layer for scale reference.
Avoid the brush tool. Use clean lines using the pen tool or vector shapes. Using sloppy freehand methods here will yeild a poor grade for this portion of the assignment.
Each person should name their maps:
Map_LastnameFirstinit_01.jpg (or omit numbering if it's all on one page)
You will collect all these images in a folder called:
First Maps
Step 3: Team Meeting (Group)
You may not simply go with one team member's map, ignoring the work of everyone else.
This is about collaboration. Everyone needs to contribute to the final Team Map.
Step 4: Team Mapping (Individual)
When you've finished with your meeting, everyone will make their own version of the final map. Each of you will make one, and the best will be decided by the team at the beginning of next class.
There will be differences in the way these are mashed together, and new ideas may come into play in the production of each final map. This MUST be very clean, and you MAY NOT use Limnu for this Step - only clean diagrams with clean lines and fills please using Photoshop please.
Call you map: Final_Map_Lastnamefirstinit.jpg
And place it in a folder called:
Final Maps
A Word about Your Layouts
Please make sure you bring all content to class on Wednesday.
Don’t forget the Z space! Your environment should have multiple levels, in which case, put each layer on a separate page, using dotted lines to indicate where rooms above or below might be.
Use appropriate symbols for doors, windows, stairs, or other construction elements, like columns or major furniture items. Provide a legend on the page to indicate what the different icons or symbols mean.
Lots of design notes please!!
If the space becomes confusing from an overview map, break out that section on a separate sheet and draw an elevation map (from the side).
Don’t feel constrained by the screen aspect - just cut ‘n paste new sections onto the grid. Remember not to form the outline and fill (the shoebox method) but instead work from the inside out – the boundaries will form themselves.
Remember to consider clear paths, the interconnectivity of the space, how the player might traverse the Z space (Stairs? Ramps?) and decoration or architectural / structural elements.
This project is due to be handed in on the server at the beginning of class next week. Failure to hand in the file with the appropriate naming convention at the beginning of class will result in a ‘0’ on the assignment.