iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Kenneth Field @kennethfield.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Seen at a cartography conference. To the lay reader this comparison might seem legit. Why would you question it? To most in the audience the words What. The. Actual. F&£€. were voiced. See if you can spot the egregious error.

12104

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

New on the blog: "GenAI for the Static Cartographer," in which I express my concerns about AI but then give ideas on how to use it, anyway. Features results both impressive and mediocre. somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/2026/09/08/g...

A GIS view of the coastline of maritime southeast Asia, overlaid with a varity of low-res polygons.

22310

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 28/08/2026

Honestly, I just don’t really have the time, creativity, or enthusiasm to make something new, which I’m a bit disappointed about. But I’ve been going through my projects from the past two years, and I’m very proud of the maps I’ve made! I think I’ll submit a few of them for this year’s gallery.

020

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Results have just been posted for the Alliance of Freelance Cartographers 2026 Annual Survey! www.freelancemaps.org/annual-surve... Please share this with freelance mappers in your orbit. This information helps empower our community. #freelance #maps #cartography

A title slide that says "AFC Annual Survey 2026" and "6th ed." and has a geometric design on it for visual interest.

062

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 23/08/2026

We’ve been having the most incredible thunderstorm in Vancouver for at least the last three hours, maybe four. It’s still going. I went down to the beach to watch the show.

160

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 19/08/2026

I’ve got 13 days in which to create and submit a map for the #NACIS2026 Map Gallery before the August 31st deadline. Any requests?

340

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 09/08/2026

#MapsInTheWild at the Grasshopper Pub, Sunshine Coast, BC. This is my first visit to the Sunshine Coast and it definitely won’t be my last. What a wonderful part of the province/country/world!

A photo of the check in table at the Grasshopper Pub, Sunshine Coast, BC, which is itself a map of the Sunshine Coast with the sea stained blue and the land bare wood. A sign says “please wait to be seated”

010

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

18 years ago, in my first carto class, my instructor said that computers could do map labeling, but they were bad at it and would likely be for a long time. This advice has held true longer than I anticipated.

161

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 07/08/2026

Labelling is a system: move one and five others shift too. Claude handles that knock-on tirelessly, but plenty of times I'd be faster by hand. But the main thing I learned from this is that labelling is a part of mapmaking that I love. Doing it through an AI was achievable, but quietly joyless.

The labelled map in full — the whole rotated Icefields Parkway strip, Jasper at the top to Lake Louise at the bottom. Hundreds of off-white names over the shaded-relief basemap: towns, peaks with triangles, italic lakes, glaciers and icefields, the Sunwapta and North Saskatchewan Rivers curving down their valleys, falls, with JASPER and BANFF NATIONAL PARK blended into the terrain and highway shields along the road.

241

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 07/08/2026

I asked Claude to label the main highways with their official shields, and it told me, confidently, that it could create SVGs "from the official specs". Pushed on the source of those specs, it admitted it was making them up from memory. They were all crap. So I downloaded the real SVGs myself...

A comparison of highway shields: Claude's "from-memory" reconstructions, with wrong proportions and details, alongside the official downloaded SVGs for the Trans-Canada Highways 1 & 16, and Alberta Highways 11 & 93.

141

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 07/08/2026

How far can I get using AI in cartography? Part two. Can I get AI to label the basemap accurately, consistently, and with cartographic finesse? A continuation of my previous thread... 🧵🗺️

160

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 03/08/2026

I will never not be a fan of 3D maps in visitor centres. Here’s the one in the Glacier Public Service Center in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

0120

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I figured out a useful generalization hack. I had a high-res railroad network, including all individual tracks. I wanted to thin this down to single lines for my map. I've used some GIS tools for this in the past, and/or manually selected segments. But this time I used some network analaysis tools.

A screenshot of some rail lines. Rail yards and spurs and double-track sections can be seen.

152

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 30/07/2026

How far can I get using AI in cartography? I drove Canada's Icefields Parkway last month, and want to make a poster map of it. Can AI help, and do it well? I started on my phone, then realised it needed more than that and moved to the desktop. AI-first: Claude, a bit of ChatGPT. A thread... 🧵🗺️

A zoomed-out view of the whole basemap, roughly 285 by 311 km of the Canadian Rockies in a painterly natural style. Snow-capped ranges and white glaciers run diagonally through dark green forested valleys, with turquoise lakes and rivers threading between them, opening onto flatter green-and-tan farmland in the north-east.

31713

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 30/07/2026

31713

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 11/06/2026

I’m looking forward to attending #NACIS2026 in Toronto later this year…

050

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I had a lovely time at GeoCart'24, and highly recommend this conference. I hope to return someday.

041

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 10/06/2026

YAY! Registration for GeoCart’26 is open! 🥳 NAY! I won’t be able to make it to see @johnnelsonmaps.bsky.social give a keynote 😭 But if you can make it, register here: geocart.cartography.org.nz

031

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 14/05/2026

I almost bought an antique globe drinks cabinet the other day, but someone beat me to it. #DrinksInMaps #CartoBooze

040

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Sarah Bell @sarahbell.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

It's always fun when you get to map your own city. Here's a near-completed Bellingham, Washington map I've been working on lately. Any other Bellinghamsters out there? 🗺️

Map of the city of Bellingham, Washington and its neighborhoods

close-up of map of the city of Bellingham, Washington and its neighborhoods.

2233

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 04/05/2026

👀👀👀 🗺️🧙‍♂️📕

000

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

The Alliance of Freelance Cartographers needs your help! By taking our short annual survey, you strengthen your #cartography community. This survey is for anyone (globally) who did any amount of freelance mapping last year (even a little). forms.gle/Em7sULniXUMv... Please help spread this widely!

1914

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 18/04/2026

Not #MapsOnDrinks, but #DrinksOnMaps A large wall map at the Vancouver Sun Run race expo, showing the locations where Granville Island Brewing name their beers after. Conveniently, they’re almost all located along the Vancouver marathon route that I’m running in two weeks…

A photo of a large wall map of Vancouver, labelled with images of Granville Island Brewing beer cans named after their respective geographic locations

000

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 24/02/2026

I don’t necessarily agree with this proposal, but it’s an interesting solution for cartographic accessibility…

000

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

A warning for Adobe #InDesign users. I recently updated my copy, and after preparing a document, the recipient of that document sent me the alt text that popped up on one of their figures. Apparently, by default, InDesign uses AI to generate (often hilariously wrong) alt text for images.

A monochrome wireframe model of a Klein bottle.

1172

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Robin Hawkes @robhawkes.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Did I accidentally make Ceefax for wind farms? 👾 This is a new toy that I created over the weekend, a 128x128 LED matrix display that shows the live status of any wind farm in Great Britain that's on the balancing system.

715926

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 16/01/2026

For me, the key difference between these two maps of the same data is the hillshade. The non-hillshaded, academic map shows you what the elevation is. The hillshaded, media map shows you what the elevation looks like.

0202

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Cameron Beccario @cambecc.nullschool.net · 07/01/2026

I'm excited to announce the official Nullschool app is here! earth.nullschool.net on mobile browsers works fine, but the app is nicer. Full screen display, persistence across sessions, text size that matches device settings. Even landscape works well. And, like the website: no ads! Links below ⬇️

Screenshot of the Nullschool app in landscape orientation showing wind streams over the Northern Pacific Ocean with the action menu overlaid on top.

1216563

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 04/01/2026

It’s my final day of five months of funemployment. It’s been wonderful travelling and exploring lots of southwestern Canada. I’m now settled in Vancouver, and tomorrow I begin a new role as a Customer Solutions Specialist at Safe Software, demonstrating how to get the most out data using FME!

280

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 01/01/2026

Final #MapsOnDrinks of 2025 “Shuswap Lake” West Coast IPA by A-Frame Brewing Company, Squamish All their beers are named after BC lakes. So far I’ve visited more than I’ve tasted. In 2026, I’ll visit and taste them all…

0142

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 31/12/2025

South Arrow Maps Wrapped for 2025: 🗃️ Projects: 21 🥸 Clients: 9 🗺️ Maps: 31 💵 Income: NZ$9,200 🌏 Countries mapped: 5* ⏱️ Total hours: 129** *mainly NZ (28), plus Germany/Austria-Hungary, England, and one global map **ish. I don’t track my hours as I go, so this is a retrospective estimate.

140

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

The Map Center @mapcenter.com · 15/12/2025

You could do this but with maps.

2343

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

The 14th Mountain Cartography Workshop will be held April 22–26, in Harrachov, Czechia. I've been twice and it's a great gathering. Hoping to be able to attend & present my auto-hachures to terrain-minded colleagues. Perhaps I'll see you there? mountaincartography.icaci.org/activities/w...

mountaincartography.icaci.org

XIV Mountain Cartography Workshop

172

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 11/12/2025

Today I finally “met” a distant relative, and several very, very distant relatives… Andrew Tyrrell (1988–) Joseph Burr Tyrrell (1858–1957) Albertosaurus (71–68 Ma)

A selfie of Andrew Tyrrell (1988– ) next to a bust of Joseph Burr Tyrrell (1858–1957) at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada

A selfie of Andrew Tyrrell (1988– ) next to a model of Albertosaurus (71–68 Ma) and the sign outside the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada

190

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Tim Wallace @wallacetim.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Transit Study I Nine gel pens on 24x32cm black paper. New item in the shop! Adding more this weekend. www.timwallace.art/product/tran...

1307

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Adobe users: it’s the most beautiful time of the year, where you can threaten to cancel your plan and get the price cut down from $59.99 to $29.99 for the next 12 months ✨ Manage plan-> cancel my plan -> continue and then you get this offer: (more)

The second step in Adobe’s “cancel my plan” workflow, where they roll over and give you everything for half price, $29.99 vs the rack $59.99 cost

20457612338

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 17/11/2025

Oooh, #NACIS2025 talks are out! Love ‘em or hate ‘em!

010

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Paul Eggleston @pauleggleston.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Paul McCartney's cartography career never took off because he kept mixing up his lat-heyjude and long-heyjude.

2161

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

caylen @caylen.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

a “Space Force”, if you will

236116411798

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

As a general reminder: if you see an item in my portfolio (somethingaboutmaps.com/Client-Work), and you want to know more about how I made it, I can usually send my Illustrator/Photoshop files to you for dissection.

051

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 07/11/2025

Further gratuitous #Papyrus in the wild, on a map in Squamish illustrating the altered course of the Mamquam River. Featuring four separate “You Are Here” markers. Flora thinks she could have done a better job herself

A largely green map on a sign showing in blue the course of various channels of the Mamquam River in Squamish, BC. Many labels are in Papyrus typeface, and there are four separate yellow stars which mark “You Are Here”

A close up of the map showing how separated the four “You Are Here” yellow stars are

A close up of the legend. It is all in Papyrus typeface

Flora, a dog, sat next to the sign with the map. She is looking disapproving

011

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 06/11/2025

YAY: Version 6.0 of the NZ Land Cover Database has been released. NAY: A change from "or" to "and" in the names of two categories means some interesting colours in my maps...

Excerpt of a map of Lake Wakatipu and nearby mountain ranges. The colours reflect the land cover, giving a natural look (blue water, green forest, beige grassland, etc). There are many unnaturally pink areas where the category "Gravel or Rock" is now named "Gravel and Rock".

Excerpt of a map of the Otago Peninsula. The colours reflect the land cover, giving a natural look (blue water, green forest, beige grassland, etc). There are many unnaturally pink areas where the category "Sand or Gravel" is now named "Sand and Gravel".

130

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 03/11/2025

Terrible video, but last night’s brewery in #Penticton, BC, had a paper scrollable cadastral map on the wall. #MapsInTheWild

180

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 21/10/2025

No one told me the biggest stress of moving to Canada would be becoming a #BlueJays fan…

051

Andrew Tyrrell @southarrowmaps.co.nz · 01/11/2025

Honoured to be considered co-author with Daniel for this. Daniel asked me to review the instructions for this method and *specifically asked* I don’t suggest fundamental changes to the method itself. I couldn’t help but get carried away with Blender nodes and vector maths, and here we are…

190

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Daniel Huffman @pinakographos.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

It's been a long journey (>1 year since I began), but there's finallt a public release of the oblique hachures method. With many thanks to @southarrowmaps.co.nz, who significantly refined the methodology from what I began with. Writeup (w/ a link to the script): docs.google.com/document/d/1...

An image of three mountains (Mt Shasta, Mt Adams, Mt Rainier), showing each mountain in an elevation view (i.e. seen from the front). Each mountain is illustrated by means of sketch lines.

An image of Aoraki, seen from the ground level. It is illustrated with sketch lines in black and white.

34811

Reposted by Andrew Tyrrell

Josh Scherr @joshscherr.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Print edition @theonion.com ads don’t miss

4179481384