Wednesday, June 15, 2016

The Realms of Iorden: a map commission

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost available for free download.

This and other map commissions are gathered in my Portfolio Directory for you to explore.

This post is also Part 1 of a series about The Once and Future Nerd.



When I first stumbled across The Once and Future Nerd fantasy podcast, I was blown away by the professional voice acting and tongue-in-cheek narration. I found the TOAFN storyline rife with the same irreverent examination of fantasy tropes that I love exploring in my own work. You can read my five-star review of their podcast here.

While poking around the TOAFN website for bonus content, I started imagining all the different places our heroes visited in the first season. Then it hit me! For all the detailed worldbuilding the creators had crafted, there needed to be a map to share their world with fans.


Check out this Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost for more maps!


Fortunately, making maps is kind of my thing, so I contacted the podcast writers Zach Glass and Christian Madera with my offer.

In exchange, I hoped they'd let me invite other TOAFN fans to try out my fantasy saga while we wait for their new season.

As it turned out, they already had a map, but it wasn't quite up to their exacting standards.

So despite being busy with the next season of their podcast, Zach and Christian responded with excitement and made time to collaborate with me.


Here's what they had to say about the finished map:


The Realms of Iorden, a map commission by D.N.Frost for The Once and Future Nerd www.DNFrost.com/portfolio Part 1 of a series.
Through the entire process, D.N. was wonderful to work with!

We entered this process having absolutely no map-making experience. D.N. is extremely patient, and willing to explain her map-making process in a way that makes sense to lay-folk like us.

If we requested a feature that was in reality a poor choice (or, on occasion, actually impossible), D.N. never shot down our ideas. She patiently described how the map would turn out using our idea, how she would recommend to do it differently, and would allow us to make the final decision.

As world-builders without cartographical experience, this was extremely helpful. It allowed us to maintain complete creative control of our world, but also drastically improved the "real-ness" of the geography. On most occasions, our map, and therefore our world, was greatly improved by her input.

In terms of aesthetics, D.N. was always on-point, and extremely detail-oriented. If something on the map didn’t match our exact aesthetic vision, no matter how small, D.N. put in the extra effort to make sure the map uniquely fit Iorden.

She even cared about the far-flung corners of the world that we had not put as much thought into. Those parts of the world that we had left vague, she filled in with exquisite, beautiful detail.

We absolutely recommend D.N. to anyone with a fantasy world!

– Christian Madera, co-creator of The Once and Future Nerd


That's it for this post! Up Next: A coastline and topography two-step...


Want to bring your own world to life? We can map your world.
You deserve a professional map you can be proud to share.

Download Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost here, or start your adventure below.






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