Campus Maps
Campus mapping services are, by far, the largest source of revenue for our firm. It has been at the very core of mapformation's sales and promotional efforts since our firm's inception...and our designers were developing campus map graphics for educational clients as early as 1994-1995. Over 95 percent of our firm's campus mapping designs have been created for college and university clients to date, though we are also very interested in developing corporate and medical campus maps as well.
Our firm's campus mapping services can essentially be broken into five primary categories of design:
Planimetric (2D perspective vector) - The length and width of a structure is depicted from directly overhead (or at a slightly skewed perspective), with height being ignored. Also sometimes referred to as "overhead" maps, these images will show the footprints of buildings within a property boundary, as well as sidewalks, parking accommodations, nearby streets, and just about any other types of details that clients desire. They are very popular with individuals in Facilities Management, Public Safety and Accessibility Services departments, as well as individuals who prefer to navigate using street names and distances, as opposed to visual landmarks. 2D perspective maps are relatively fast and affordable to develop, depending upon the quality of reference material provided for a project.
Planimetric with Implied Perspective (2D perspective vector) - The length and width of a structure is depicted from directly overhead (or at a slightly skewed perspective), with height being implied via the drawing of rooflines and the possible introduction of different tones to indicate the position of the sun. These particular designs take approximately 25-30 percent more time to depict than their more-typical planimetric counterparts. However, many of our clients find the additional costs to be well-worth it in the end.
Axonometric Bird’s Eye/Oblique (3D perspective vector) - The length, width and height of a structure are depicted from a fixed vantage point, while forcing the angles and directions of buildings to be consistent across an entire design (ignoring things such as the curvature in the Earth’s surface). Very useful for depicting large campuses and other features over a broad geographic area, these illustrations are typically created in Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, or Corel Draw software.
Photo-Realistic (Perspective) Bird’s Eye/Oblique/Pictorial (3D perspective vector, raster, and hand-rendered) - The length, width and height of a structure are depicted from a fixed vantage point, drawn exactly as they appear in a high-resolution oblique aerial photograph. Angles change dramatically from one edge of an illustration to the other. Very useful for depicting small to mid-sized campuses, these illustrations are typically created in Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, Corel Draw or Adobe Photoshop software, if not at the drafting table, as is the case in our hand-rendered style.
3D Depictions (Trimble SketchUp) - Rather than have a property depicted from one fixed vantage point, that property is viewable from literally any angle or vantage point, drawing structures, landscaping and other landmarks in three-dimensional space. A little more than twice the expense of their "3D perspective" counterparts (and 12-14 times the cost of developing a 2D perspective vector map illustration), these illustrations give clients nearly infinite views and possibilities associated with sharing their campuses in print and electronic format.
