From the monthly archives: October 2010
Days at award winning Axis Maps in Hewitt, Texas, are spent creating “custom cartography for the digital age.” For 10 years, this small company’s employees have been doing exceptional work combining their expertise in the traditions of cartography with innovative interactive media. Now they’ve added an artistic endeavor to their list of accomplishments—city maps created entirely with type fonts.
For Mark Harrower, Ph.D., Ben Sheesley, Ph.D. and Andy Woodruff, like many creative people, there comes a time when an idea just has to be followed–for the pleasure of the work and the love of the project. That time came for them when Andy decided to expand on a concept he had used for a party announcement. The project just took on a life of its own. After almost two years, maps of Chicago and Boston are now finished.
The guys at Axis Maps say of their Typographic Maps, “Created as a labor of love, these unique maps accurately depict the streets and highways, parks, neighborhoods, coastlines, and physical features of the city using nothing but type. Only by manually weaving together thousands upon thousands of carefully placed words does the full picture of the city emerge. Every single piece of type was manually placed, a process that took hundreds of hours to complete for each map.”
More maps to come—San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C. are next. Can’t wait to see the streets of the nation’s capital.
Cristie Schlosser works design magic in Dallas through a collaborative partnership with her clients, “to create harmonious environments that evoke feelings of calm.” This recipient of the prestigious 2008 American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Design Ovation First Place Kitchen Award shares her thoughts on design and some images of her work.
What styles do you find are lasting and why?
Simple, clean lines are timeless and can always be mixed with period pieces either modern or antique. Modern never goes away and is the foundation for organic design.
Where do you draw inspiration for your designs?
My designs mostly come from visualizing the space, gaining insight from the client and how the space feels and functions.
How do first approach each design project?
First, I ask the client questions about their likes, dislikes, lifestyle, influences, experiences and expectations. Then I walk through their space with them and discuss their thoughts.
What type of projects are your favorites?
Renovations of a single or whole space and complete furnishing (furniture to window treatments.)
Do you cater to a certain niche or specialization?
I tend to do more kitchens, bathrooms and whole house renovations. I prefer to utilize universal design methods so my clients will have long term functionality.
With the increasing popularity of social media, how do you maintain an online presence? Do you blog, guest blog, Facebook and Twitter?
I have been invited to blog on Design Guide (work in progress), and have a few internet articles on design websites. I do Facebook and recently twittered!
Any advice you would like to share with homeowners who are considering hiring an interior designer?
Interior Designers can add value to your project in many ways. They are educated and have passed rigorous national examinations, are experienced and have relationships within the industry. A qualified Licensed Interior Designer can lead you through the design process, minimizing doubt while maximizing your dollars, show you options you never realized you had, and take the edge off a design project making it so much more enjoyable.
For more information about Cristie’s design work or to book an appointment please contact with the information below:
Cristie Schlosser
Schlosser Design Group, LLC
12250 Inwood Road Suite 9
Dallas, Texas 75244
(P): 214.546.6747
(E): cristie@schlosserdesign.net
(W): www.schlosserdesign.net
In recent years, David Roberts RA (1796-1864) of Scotland has been rediscovered and is counted among the greatest masters of 19th century British Romantic art. Though this self-taught artist tackled many subjects, he is best known for his lithographs of Egypt and the Holy Land. The artistic results of his epic 1838 journey to capture views of this far-off land are today considered an enduring treasure.
His detailed, almost photographic, depictions of the great monuments throughout Egypt are historically important because many of them no longer exist. For instance, the Nubian temples which he documented so meticulously were dismantled and reassembled sometimes far from their original sites in the early 1960s when the Aswan High Dam was built on the Nile. As a result of the dam Lake Nasser was formed and the temple sites were lost forever.
David Roberts left behind not only an amazing artistic heritage but an irreplaceable historic record. Please enjoy our selected images from his vast array of work:
- David Roberts in Arab dress
Robert Scott Lauder 1840 (via)
- Colossal figures in front of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Part of the ruins of a temple on the Island of Bigge, Nubia
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The gate of the Metwalis, or Bab Zuweyleh, Cairo
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The gate of the Metwalis, or Bab Zuweyleh, Cairo
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The Hypaethral Temple of Philae
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Temple of Philae
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- A colossal statue at the entrance to the Temple of Luxor
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The Simoon in the desert
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Pompey’s Column/Egypt
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Pompey’s Column/Egypt
David Roberts 1838 (via)
The Great Sphinx, Pyramids of GizehDavid Roberts 1838 (via)
Temple of Dendour, NubiaDavid Roberts 1838 (via)
