Books for Map Lovers by Gestalten

Maps can be fascinating.

It’s about knowing where you are, or where you want to get lost. It’s picturing a place, giving it its own spirit on the paper (or online, let’s be modern). It’s a gateway to another world, where your imagination is free to travel to unknown or far-away locations. It’s also the memory of places you’ve been through, streets where you strolled.

But enough lyricism.
Having a passion for both maps and books, here I present Gestalten (a publishing house I’ve already introduced with the Craft Beer Book), and two of their books for map lovers: A Map of the World, and the Map Design Toolbox.

A Map of the World

Inspired from real places or imaginary ones, A Map of the World showcases the best of illustrated maps from contemporary artists. Art projects, magazines (Monocle), city guides (this is where I discovered Herb Lester), the variety of styles and sources makes it very rich for anyone into maps illustrations and graphics. Each artist has his/her own eye, so you’ll get as many different ways of seeing famous cities.

You think you know London, Paris or New-York city maps? You’ll be surprised to see how it can be reinvented. A beautiful book to let your mind wander in new territories, whether they be visual or geographical.

The Map Design Toolbox

For those into maps who want to take their passion further, the Map Design Toolbox is a good way to get started on map design. If you feel like creating your own maps (those last holidays of yours would surely deserve a lovely map), this book provides templates and a rich set of icons (on a DVD), ready-to-use. There’s all you need to design a map: symbols, transports, travel, landmarks… Most topics are covered, so it’s just waiting for you to give it a go!

If you know about other books for map lovers, leave me a comment, I’d love to know more about it!