See sample pages from this book at Wink.
Martin Vargic, the 17-year-old cartographic wunderkind from Slovakia responsible for the “Map of Stereotypes” that went viral last year, has done some seriously fine work in this collection of highly-detailed, thoroughly researched and beautiful maps. While some are factual maps based on data and infographic in nature, many are the product of Vargic’s imagination, research, and incredible information organization skills. He uses classic cartographic techniques to map out abstract landscapes like music, gaming and the internet.
As Vargic says in the introduction of the book, drawing something out as a map gives you a unique opportunity to present many different metrics of visual information all at once. Charting maps of these systems, landscapes, and fields of culture provides so many dimensions for the reader to dig into and analyze: the size, color, geographic traits, and bordering territories of each region offer a new way to think about all of the pieces in relation to one another. Every page is filled with hundreds of opportunities to pick up some trivia (e.g. “Subway has forty-three thousand locations worldwide”), inspire a quick Google (e.g. “Wait, ‘baroque pop’ is a thing?”), or jog a memory (e.g. “Aww, I miss Encyclopedia Britannica!”). Flipping the book open to a random page can almost be a little disorienting, because there’s just so much to look at. This is the perfect book to look through with a friend or two, pouring over the maps together to discuss, debate and learn. (If you’ve got a friend who likes to play professor, this is an awesome way to spend time together.) The imagined maps are playful, dense and sometimes, a little cheeky; the factual, infographic maps are clustered together in threes to present different data stories.
If you’re into coffee table books, this one would certainly be a worthy addition to your collection. The pages are a good, heavy paper with a muted color scheme and gorgeous, ornate illustrations. Some of the larger maps, like “Map of Music” and “Map of Sports” are blown up and fold out. A full-size wall map of “Map of Stereotypes” is included in a pouch in the back. You might consider digging up a magnifying glass to be able to fully appreciate the fine print.
TL;DR: Internet nerds, data geeks, and pop culture aficionados alike will have nothing but love for Vargic’s Miscellany of Curious Maps.
– Michelle Kaatz
Vargic’s Miscellany of Curious Maps: Mapping the Modern World
Vargic’s Miscellany of Curious Maps: Mapping the Modern World
by Martin Vargic
The Experiment
2015, 128 pages, 10.2 x 12.2 x 0.8 inches