We have been working on the Bosque map for years. Since Brian first arrived to the Bosque with his GPS, up until yesterday when Jairo added some final touches; the Bosque map making process has been a long haul! And many people contributed to its creation. Hours of GPSing, converting files, and then painstakingly drawing each trail in Adobe Illustrator – many steps to a great map!
Step One: GPS
The first step to making the Bosque map included using a GPS to record all of the trails in the Bosque. Many people worked on this step, including Nika, Brian and Marie. We use a Garmin GPS to walk the trails, mark significant points, and learn about distances and elevation changes.
Step Two: GPS Trackmaker
The second step involves loading the files onto a program called GPS Trackmaker. This program allows us to fiddle around the different lines, making up for any obvious errors that happened while using the GPS. In Trackmaker we could change trail types, add symbols for different locations, and make a basic Bosque map.
Step Three: Adobe Illustrator
After the basic map is done in GPS Trackmaker, we convert the files so that we can edit the map in Adobe Illustrator. Using this program, at least four people have done work on the map. Brenda, Niklas, Jairo and Brian all contributed to making the map look pretty in Illustrator.
Niklas, in particular, spent hours and hours and hours tracing the lines on the Bosque map.
And the FINAL PRODUCT!!!!! (click on the image to see a large version)
This map will help visitors know their way around the Bosque – it is a really fun place to explore, and much easier to enjoy with a map. There will of course be changes as the Bosque continues to develop.
Thanks to everyone who helped along the way!
Brian working with one of the first drafts on a canvas:
Drafts, of both GPS Trackmaker files and Illustrator:
And last, the original map of the Bosque Village (and its old name)
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