The area in this map was part of the route to my school. The road bustling with vehicles, folks visiting the shops, and devotees praying in the temples built on the side of the main path are a common sight.
The reason I choose this area is because I have seen this everyday on my way to school. I have witnessed this during different times of the day, and seasons of the year. Through the entire route, I used to spend most of my time reflecting on life while observing the people as they go on with their lives. While working on the map, I recalled my time in school and just stepping out since I haven't been doing that a lot since the pandemic.
Vibe
Keywords - Chaotic, bustling, lively, noisy, holy.
The area seems calm and holy in the morning when a lot of people visit the temples to start their day. The road is not much crowded until afternoon when it gets very chaotic.
STAGE-1
Our task for this stage was to create the outlines of the paths. I struggled a bit with the railway track while working on the outlines. I wanted it to be a repetitive pattern of rectangle like the track. I ended up creating a simple line with stroke since I couldn't find a way to get my desired outcome. But in the 2nd week of the project we were taught about pattern brushes and I used that later for the railway.
A compilation of the stages to my final outcome.
After the final layout, I explored different ways in which I could represent the vibe of my map. I used scribble tool, pattern brush and some brushes I had downloaded. I selected the 2nd trial for the map since it serves the intended vibe.
I wanted to use something traditional, a native style to reflect the vibe so I took inspiration from Chikankari since it's the native embroidery of my state, UP. One keyword for my vibe was Chaotic, and I was short on ideas of how I can bring that out on my map through this embroidery style.
After consulting with my tutor, I analyzed the embroidery work and noticed the back of the embroidery which appears quite chaotic. I used it to create a chaotic look to the path in my map.
I also made some changes in the railway track for it to be more easy to identify it right.
Icons
For the icons, I wanted it to be simple and added a little background of the chikankari work.
Temple
Interim Review
In week 7, I had received a feedback on the map. My map didn't really appear as chikankari since my motifs weren't carefully picked out from the work, and thus lost the originality of the embroidery style. My mentor suggested to observe and pick the common motifs from the embroidery, and make it as identical as possible for it to really blend as chikankari. On her suggestion, I created a hand drawn map recreating all the icons and outlines in the map.
Icons
Sources used: D'source , Chikankari Motifs , Embroidery ideas
Revised Map
While working on this map, I realized that it's a much needed step for a beginner on illustrator. Working directly on the software limits my explorations to my skills and knowledge of the tools, thus affecting my outcome.
STAGE 1
Working on the layout of this map was a little complicated as the outlines of my roads were not as simple as before. It was a task to create a pattern for the railway. With many trials I was able to get an accurate pattern.
STAGE 2
After the feedback on my previous icons, I created new icons that would fit in my map better. I didn't have much color variations since the embroidery my map represents usually has 2-3 colors.
STAGE 3
While deciding the colors of my map, I had to keep in notice that Chikankari works in only a few colors. The choice of my colors were mostly on instincts.
In the first trial, the icons do not stand out much so I tried a new and colorful color scheme. I figured it takes away the focus from the embroidery, so I decided to go with the first one.
Later I played with the opacity of my strokes and discovered a new color scheme but it didn't work out since it doesn't reflect the lively vibe of the place.
STAGE 4 - Final outcome
For the title, I chose the language as Hindi since my map is based on native style and culture. The color of the text is green to make it stand out from the background but also blend with the map.
Progression of the Map
