Well-designed maps are crucial for effective communication, and I enjoy making useful maps for the help of others.   Since January of 2011, I have served as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Analyst for the St. Charles County Government in the St. Louis Metro Area.  My work in the position has enhanced my GIS abilities greatly and I have become proficient in web-development with GIS.  Below are a few of my recent projects, both as an employee of St. Charles County and as an independent mapper.

Doors Open Milwaukee Map, 2012

This locator map was completed as a volunteer project in conjunction with Historic Milwaukee, Inc. to share information for their annual architectural open house event.  I developed the soft-toned base map design and worked with a team of dedicated individuals to ensure that over 160 points of interest were accurately placed and labeled.  An additional challenge for the team was to ensure that the map colors would cleanly display on newsprint, as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel carried the map as part of a special section promoting Doors Open Milwaukee.  The use of a locator grid and simple, bright point symbols makes the daunting list of tour locations manageable for the map reader.

You may learn more about the event and view the map at its full extent by visiting the non-profit organization’s event website.

St. Charles County Map Service

The backbone of my work with St. Charles County is the development and maintenance of web-mapping applications.  Tasked to me shortly after arriving in St. Charles, I quickly learned to develop map services, manage web-mapping application code using configuration files (XML), enhance source code files (MXML, ActionScript), and administer GIS and web-application servers to provide an efficient means for the public to access mapping data.  Shortly after the site’s launch, I gave several demonstrations showing the application’s capabilities for County employees, one of which was filmed as a training video and broadcast on local cable television.

You may use the map service by clicking here.   The training video is located here.

Ninkasi Brewing “Beer is Love” Program Map

This map captures the locations of dozens of locations benefiting from the community service matching funds program run by this popular Pacific Northwest brewer.  This map uses brewery iconography to highlight locations across the region receiving support from Ninkasi.  Completed as a contest piece with no direct contact with the staff at the brewery, I used fonts and a color scheme that flows well with the brewery’s graphic design.  The map was a winner in the North American Cartographic Information Society’s (NACIS) Map Off contest held in conjunction with their 2012 annual meeting in Portland, Oregon.

Cadott High School Reunion Invitation

Having moved first 200, then 500 miles from home, I try to keep in touch with my high school friends when I can.  This put me in a convenient role to make and mail the invitations to my 5-year class reunion.  I used the very natural chalkboard theme to map the reunion location and provide the additional details for the reunion.  Unlike most of my maps, nearly every element of the map carries Adobe Illustrator effects, most evident with the chalk-style map and notes.

Mapping Guerrillas…

…sort of.  This is one of two maps that I crafted for the book Guerrillas in Civil War Missouri, by James W. Erwin.  A clear reference map, it specifies the locations across Northeast Missouri that played host to some of the Civil War’s chaos and violence.  The author had already researched the map data before tasking me with the project, which allowed me to double-check his research with additional resources while drafting the maps.  Check out the second map and learn more about the book through “Click to Look Inside!” segment of the book’s Amazon page.