Most people who want to understand the world and manage their daily lives can't get very far without lists. In addition to our personal to-do and shopping lists, there are published lists about everything from best sellers and endangered animals to the most popular children's names in any given year. We categorize and arrange things in order to provide an overview or examine them in a certain light. This book visualizes our penchant for sorting in playful and entertaining ways. The book presents light-hearted yet compelling work by illustrators, designers, and the creators of infographics that visually structures the stuff of our daily lives. Whether looking at pasta, poets, sneakers, birds, or whole cities, the small is classified into the big.

Maps help us understand the world. This book features the most original and sought-after map illustrators whose work is in line with the zeitgeist. Drawing a map means understanding our world a bit better. For centuries, we have used the tools of cartography to represent both our immediate surroundings and the world at large — and to convey them to others. On the one hand, maps are used to illustrate areal relationships, including distances, dimensions, and topographies. On the other, maps can also serve as projection screens for a variety of display formats, such as illustration, data visualization, and visual storytelling. In our age of satellite navigation systems and Google Maps, personal interpretations of the world around us are becoming more relevant. Publications, the tourism industry, and other commercial parties are using these contemporary, personal maps to showcase specific regions, to characterize local scenes, to generate moods, and to tell stories beyond sheer navigation. A new generation of designers, illustrators, and mapmakers are currently discovering their passion for various forms of illustrative cartography. A Map of the World is a compelling collection of their work — from accurate and surprisingly detailed representations to personal, na ve, and modernistic interpretations. The featured projects from around the world range from maps and atlases inspired by classic forms to cartographic experiments and editorial illustrations.