When we think of the word “map”, we have a pretty solid idea of what it should represent. We also know what a traditional map should look like, be it of a city, a country, even the entire planet. But there are maps that don’t look “traditional” at all.
The Finger Lakes in the state of New York seen as a minimalistic map. Image courtesy of Peter Gorman/Barely Maps
Seattle-based designer Peter Gorman creates maps that don’t really look like maps. He bases them on places he visited, and he’s been busy creating them since 2015. “It all started with a solo cycling trip I took around the US and Canada,” he told Lonely Planet. “I travelled 11,000 miles in one big loop, and then started designing maps of the places I’ve seen as a hobby”.
This is the first map Peter Gorman ever designed, a collection of squares that aren’t shaped like a square at all. Image courtesy of Peter Gorman/Barely Maps
The first map he created was Guide to the squares in Cambridge and Somerville. Peter Gorman told Lonely Planet that he found “kinda funny how all of them are called a square even though none of them is actually shaped like one”. That’s where his designs come from— they’re based on stories, memories, cities, shapes, colours, weird intersections and even blank spaces.
Seattle’s weird and curious intersections collected together. Image courtesy of Peter Gorman/Barely Maps
What started as a hobby became a full-time job, and Peter Gorman is now approaching the 100 designs mark. He’s collecting them all in a book that will come out hopefully by the end of 2019— a book that will very aptly be named Barely Maps.
This map of Manhattan is made with titles of books that take place in New York. Image courtesy of Peter Gorman/Barely Maps
If you’d like to know more about Peter Gorman and his maps, you can visit his official website here.
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