Using Maps To Create Compelling Products

Maps make for fantastic wall art. Not only do they remind us of where we’ve been they can help us get where we want to go. For example, I have a friend who has a strong love for all things Russian. She has gorgeous maps of Russia placed in key locations throughout her home. Because the organization and boundaries of Russia have changed over the years these maps, some of them are very old, have value as collector’s items.

Now we’re not talking about the Rand McNally Road Atlas types of maps, hang hose on your wall and the only thing you’re likely to gain is the knowledge of all the rest areas between Austin and Albuquerque. Ick!

No, we’re talking about vintage maps. Before the invention of GoogleMaps and GPS map making was an art which took map creators painstaking time and attention to detail. You can find a wealth of fabulous map art at archives.org. Here’s how.

• Step One. Visit the Library of Congress Digital Collection
• Step Two. Enter maps in the search area.
• Step Three. Hit search! You’ll find more than 2,000 results.
• Step Four. Narrow your search.

Love Russian maps like my friend? Search Maps Russia and review the results.

Love Europe? Search Maps Europe

Want to stick closer to home? Search by state. You may be able to find aerial photos, hand drawn maps of an entire state or notable city. Like this one of Georgia:

You can show the progress of time and change for cities like Las Vegas and Chicago with a progression of map images.

Step Five. Don’t forget to search inside books. There are a large number of books in the public domain which have gorgeous maps inside and included as illustrations. These maps offer the same opportunity that individual map collections do.

So what can you do with all of these public domain maps?

Well posters and calendars first come to mind however you can also create coffee table books with themes from your desired country or region. You can take the images to a printer and create quality lithographs and sell them framed or unframed as the works of art they were meant to be.

Map art with public domain content is a fantastic way to create unique products for your map loving audience. Start at loc.gov and brainstorm the possibilities.

Using Public Domain Images To Share History

You have heard it before… “A picture is worth 1000 words”. But, let’s face it. History can be a dry subject.

No matter how interesting the events, it is sometimes a real challenge to make historical stories appealing. Yet there is much we can learn from history.

Pictures and images can tell a story much better than words can. Let public domain images help you tell a story.

The Library of Congress has created a beautiful collection of images which they call “American Memory.” You can find the website here http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/index.html

The site is organized so you can browse by category like religion, sports, war, literature, maps and so on. You can also browse by time period, region, or by medium like photos, sound recordings, books and so on.

This website alone is a fantastic source to create visual history books.

For example, the architecture category offers 9 collections including one titled Panoramic Photographs which has amassed almost 4000 photographs from 1851 to 1991. Within the larger collection of 4000 images there are smaller divisions such as national parks, disasters or farms.

Each image has listed the copyright and reproduction rights to the image. For example, this image about National Conference, World Wide Prohibition, Columbus, O., Nov. 19th-22nd, 1918.

Visit their rights and reproductions page for information about identifying rights. As a side note if a photo is cataloged as a ‘government photo’ there are no copyrights associated with the image.

This collection of photographs lends itself quite nicely to visual historical books, coffee table books and niche history buffs.

Browse the amazing images, note the ones you’d like to use for your public domain product, and then take the necessary steps to make sure the image is free and clear. It’s a little more work than standard “Public Domain Content” sites however the images are spectacular and quite worth the effort.
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