A map is the greatest of all epic poems. It's lines and colors show the realization of great dreams.
A map can be understood using two basic parameters. One is scale - local, regional, global. The other is of its subjective intent - spatial, cultural, political, economic, historical, ecological, geological etc.
The goal of this assignment was to derive a visually stunning, yet an extremely detailed map on a global scale that focused on the spatial, ecological and the geological aspects.
Having access to the Harvard Map archives was one the best researching opportunities one could ask for.
It was a literally treasure trove of data, images, historical information, cartographic data that one can ever wish for.
Numerous data points were overlaid on top of the core. This helped render the entire globe in 3D while preserving all the details at multiple zoom levels. The globe had to be implemented in iOS for native apps and WebGL for web platforms.
When working on a National Geographic assignment there are no uncharted territories. From the remotest regions of Amazonia to the Sahara to the ocean floors and the polar caps.
This presented an exciting and a unique challenge as no detail can be overlooked. From the tiniest islands and trenches to the largest ice caps and mountain ranges.
If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart.
Art, and it would be Michelangelo.
Literature, and it would be Shakespeare.
And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth
that is still as it should be. May we never tame it.
