It has been brought to our attention that Chinese authorities are now subjecting world maps to a process of verification to ensure they conform to China's sovereignty claims. For example, the depiction of disputed territories such as Taiwan and islands in the South China Sea and gas fields in the East China Sea must conform to Beijing's official view. Map projection, affecting the size of China in comparison with the rest of the world, is also under scrutiny. These restrictions affect all products sold in China, including maps on merchandise and within books, and they also affect maps printed in China on products destined for markets outside of China. The latter are now being impounded at Chinese customs whilst the authorities examine their origination and design. Consequences for products deemed to violate Chinese sovereignty may include fines and the order for companies to withdraw and destroy products. Recent cases include Gap being forced to apologise for selling T-shirts in ... Read more
Using Google Maps or Mapbox: a comparison for building interactive maps
At Maproom we are always trying out different map systems to see if we can harness any digital mapping innovations in our own products and services. An online mapping system called Mapbox has been a rival to Google Maps for some years, though it it still barely known outside the mapmaking/geocoding community. We decided to create some demos of Google Maps and Mapbox to help our clients understand how these digital mapping systems can be used in business and online mapping projects. How to create a basic single marker Google map First up: Google Maps. We're all familiar with these as the most ubiquitous maps on the web. You can add your business to Google Maps using Google's free business listing facility. It's also pretty easy to embed a single location map on any website using Google Maps's built-in embed code. For example, this location map for the Houses of Parliament in London: To make one of the basic Google maps as shown above, you simply type your location into ... Read more
Only In Edinburgh – beautiful and erudite new travel guide using Maproom maps
Maproom's parent company, Thameside Media, is closely associated with illustrated travel guides, having produced dozens of travel guides for different publishers over the years, including Eyewitness Japan, Blue Guide India, Real City Barcelona and Top 10 Algarve. This is why we were especially delighted and only too pleased to oblige when Duncan J.D. Smith, knowledgeable author of the Only In travel guides, approached Maproom to build custom maps of Edinburgh and her environs for his well-researched new guide, Only In Edinburgh. This guide is organised with thematic spreads delving into the more unexpected and unusual aspects of Scotland's capital. So that, rather than a dry description of St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, we leap into the story of Leith-born sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi, whose giant foot sculpture is installed in the cathedral forecourt. We trace J.K. Rowling's coffee hangouts and speculate on the manifestation of the real George Heriot's Castle, Lauriston, Raeburn and ... Read more
Animated map of EU Countries, Schengen Area, Eurozone, Single Market and Hard Brexit
As a demo of what you can do with our base map of EU countries, we've created an animated map gif showing the current EU countries (2016-2019) layered with countries in the Eurozone, countries in the Schengen area, countries in the European Single Market and, finally, the European Single Market as it will look if the UK enacts a Hard Brexit. ... Read more
The surprising story of Thomas Hardy in Surbiton
When moving premises in 2015, the owners of Maproom researched the history of the building that was going to be our new base – a well-preserved 140-year-old four-storey Victorian townhouse on the Hook Road in Surbiton. We had noted that the old house is called Hardy's Villa on the Land Registry, but we did not at first perceive any significance to the name. However, the Wikipedia entry for Surbiton mentioned that Hook Road is associated with the celebrated 19th-century novelist Thomas Hardy, and we started wondering about a connection. Cue lots of research in books and documents about the history of Kingston upon Thames. We also spent time scrutinising maps from the Victorian era, overlaying them with modern digital maps. To our surprise and delight, we discovered that Thomas Hardy was indeed living in our vicinity in the mid-1870s. Age 33 and newly married to his wife, Emma; the couple were starting their married life in lodgings called St David's Villa, ... Read more
2,500 map plottings for Betjeman’s Best British Churches
One of our greatest projects for Harper Collins publishers recently involved the mapping and photography of churches around Britain. Altogether we plotted the location of 2,500 churches using digital GPS data and translating it onto printed maps. It represents a massive achievement and huge improvement on the original black and white map bullets in the earlier editions of the book. With the OS and GPS coordinates given for people with SatNavs and mobile devices, Thameside Media is delighted to have had the opportunity to bring this classic work into the digital age. ... Read more