Reimagining Maps:

A Creative Guide to the Cartography of Minds, Spaces, and
The World Between

Publication Design/ Book Art/ Thesis

May.2025

The history of cartography reflects a cultural movement that reflects our comprehension of how people relate to space. Cartography, the art of map-making, involves a collaborative effort among scholars to visualize abstract ideas like time and space. These visualizations can embody envisioned ideals, such as utopian cities, worlds, or humanitarianism, sparking public awareness of social justice and human conditions while fostering empathy and prompting collective action.

Exploring Cartography Through This Book
This book documents a novel approach to modern mapmaking. I reconsider the visual language used in contemporary maps, integrating cartographic history, anthropological research, and innovative visual frameworks to investigate the map-making process and foster deeper critical reflection.

A Brochure Format

I further experimented with various formats and found that a brochure is akin to a map. Its folding design encourages readers to unfold, explore, and navigate the content freely, which aligns with the spatial and directional themes I'm trying to convey in the work.

Folded and Expanded

Within the book's interior design, certain pages can be folded and unfolded, reflecting the concept that a map is a medium that needs to be “opened” to be comprehended.
It demands space and embodies a sense of ritual.

Map Drawing Activity

Employing ethnographic techniques to collect sketch maps from people across different generations, exploring their spatial perceptions and expressive styles. The visual analysis scrutinizes their drawing sequences, orientations, and sketching techniques to uncover their distinctive visual language in spatial representation.

New Cartographic Guide

Introducing the spatial visual framework using “circles” and “quadrants” to help participants categorize their remembered landmarks, symbols, paths, and boundaries into distinct areas. Also, beginning at the center, as a form of creative expression. Participants are encouraged to start from their “self” to recreate their spaces. This cartographic guide redefines spatial orientation due to reduced sensory engagement and control from digital navigation, reestablishing the mapmaker’s role as an active participant in spatial interactions.

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