Devin Abrams

Concept I chose to do another map for my final project. The idea came up while I was doing the last map project. I was pleased with my last map but though that my new idea would be fun and less stressful. I decided I wanted to make a map of Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. It is a great island in the Outer Banks and I have visited several times. I thought of making a treasure map because one of the main attractions to the island was that Blackbeard the pirate frequented it and would dock his ship the Adventure in Teach’s Hole (named after one of his alias’ Edward Teach). This time I wanted it to look more cohesive and attractive than the last map. I have several different ideas for what to include in the map, either a map focused on where Blackbeard was on the island, main attractions of the island (it’s a huge tourist attraction) or a map of shipwrecks nearby. I researched several artists that have made maps and found some different styles the are creative and more appealing and fit in with the different ideas that I have.

Sketch 1- Black Beard

Sketch 2- Shipwrecks There have been quiet a few shipwrecks near Ocracoke Island, known as "the Graveyard of the Atlantic,” it is where the Labrador and Gulf Stream currents converge nearby, causing frequent storms and unpredictable weather conditions. There are logs of past shipwrecks and some are still being discovered (one in 2009 uncovered on a beach). For this map it would again be an old time treasure map, but focused more on the waters around the island. There would be a key with the name of the ship and year it wrecked or salvaged.

Sketch 3-Attractions This time I would focus on the town of Ocracoke. There are a lot of historical sites and great places to shop and eat. I would show the island but have a zoomed in square that marks different places on Ocracoke to visit. There would be a key nearby with the icons describing the place, whether it is a gift shop, a restaurant, or if it is historical (I would then give more information on it’s history).

Mike Reagan Mike is more of a traditional map maker. His maps are beautifully rendered and detailed. They look like old maps and have an ancient and used look. This technique would look good for the map with Blackbeard.

Nancy McCabe Instead of focusing on continents and land, her maps are typographical. She creates watercolor map with a little bit of brown to show land, but focuses on words to lead the viewer. This would be a good technique to use with the shipwrecks because it focuses on the water and not the islands.

Joe LeMonnier Joe has made thousands of maps ranging from decorative to scientific. I chose a decorative map, it is simple but I like the design of the land and the buildings and the three dimensionality. This would look nice for the map of hotspots on the island.