A quick update on Volume 7 of the Atlas of Design:
Our Call for Submissions ended on January 21, 2024, and we received just over 200 individual maps from 150+ different authors. These numbers slightly outpaced Volume 6 (187 total) but remain less than the totals received for Volumes 4 and 5 (300/450). This was somewhat by design, as we introduced limits on the number of submissions per individual for both Volumes 6 and 7, which were not in place for earlier editions. This has helped to keep things manageable both for us (the editing team) and our volunteer judges, who generously donate their time and expertise to help us decide which maps to include in each volume.
While there are fewer total submissions to review, there has certainly been no dip in quality—in fact, we are overwhelmed by the increasing level of excellence and scope of maps sent in for consideration in recent volumes, including a growing number of submissions from cartographers outside of both the NACIS membership and the United States/Canada. We want to sincerely thank everyone who sent in their work for Volume 7. The Atlas could not exist without your support, and we hope you all will continue to share your projects with us in the future.
As mentioned, we rely on a group of volunteer judges to help us sort through these submissions. These individuals are respected contributors to the cartographic community—some returning from previous stints on our panel, while others are joining for the first time to help bring in fresh perspectives. While reviewing and ranking maps is an inherently subjective process, we hope that a varied group of cartographers will help to minimize the influence of any personal biases or tastes in the overall selection of maps. The judges assisting us this volume are:
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Aly Ollivierre | National Geographic |
| Anton Thomas | Independent Artist Cartographer |
| Bill Limpisathian | University of Wisconsin Madison |
| Daniel Huffman | somethingaboutmaps, Founding Atlas Editor |
| Delphine Papin | Le Monde |
| Jack Jen Gieseking | City Institute, York University |
| James Meacham | Senior Research Associate Emeritus, University of Oregon |
| Jennifer Mapes | Kent State University |
| Jug Cerović | Architect Cartographer, Inat Consulting |
| Julie Witmer | Julie Witmer Custom Map Design |
| Molly O’Halloran | Independent Artist Cartographer |
| Tim Wallace | New York Times, Founding Atlas Editor |
Our hope is to have the judging process completed by early March, at which point the editors will review the results and make the final selections. You can read a general overview of the process in a past blog post. Assuming everything goes as planned, we will likely have an announcement to share by early April. Stay tuned to our blog, socials, and email for updates.
Atlas of Design Volume 7 Editors,
Daniel Coe, Aileen Clarke, Erin Greb, Aaron Koelker