On my companion blog Down & Outbound, I posted a note last fall about my contribution to a Kickstarter project entitled Barely Maps. The project is a personal account of cyclist and graphic designer Peter Gorman's 11,000 mile bike trip across the United States and southern Canada. A signed copy of Barely Maps 100 Minimalist Maps arrived at my door after Christmas including a personal thank you note for being an investor.
The book is gorgeously printed like an artbook with dozens of illustrations including a set of Intersections, where Gorman outlines the quirky, weird intersections of select U.S. cities. Even though Intersections is a popular aspect of Gorman's work (single city posters are available at barelymaps.com) the book is much more. Writes Gorman, "It seemed important to make sense of the trip and what it was all about. I thought it would help to create something, so I opened a blank white page on my computer and started drawing." The result is a series of illustrated memoir-vignettes about his travels and his life before and after the trip.
Gorman's transcontinental bike trip dominates the first section of the book (Maps numbering #1 to #25) . Gorman writes only briefly about the places he visits, preferring to rely on "maps" or more illustrative representations of places (The Great Lakes, Savannah, the Pacific Coast Highway). Some of his efforts work better for me than others. but I will admit, I was hoping something similar to Edward Tufte's The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (1983). My misguided expectation that everything should match Charles Joseph Minard's "Napoleon's March to Moscow" falls on me. Once I put that aside, I could appreciate Gorman's creativity much more.
Part 2 is Intersections which covers 25 maps of intersections of major cities (Maps #26 to #50 although you have to figure that out for yourself). But based on his depiction of Atlanta I appreciate that all metropolises have street oddities that we view with both pride and loathing. One possible shortcoming is whether the reader will care about the petroglyph-like intersections from other cities.
The final two sections of the book Part 3 After (maps #51 to #75) and Part 4 Before (maps #76 to #100) Gorman concentrates on the aftermath of his trip where he spent considerable time in Seattle (#51 to #64). About 80% of the maps in the Before section are dedicated to Gorman's childhood in upstate New York --- his early memories of spinning globes in the classroom and riding his bike on his paper route in Syracuse. Included with these illustrations are short paragraphs explaining the significance of how maps have always been an integral part of his life.
Because the last two sections are heavily Seattle and Syracuse centric, they don't work as well as the first section (unless you hail from those two cities). Nonetheless as one who designed and wrote his own book out of an obsession (Down & Outbound: A Mass Transit Satire ) I understand Gorman's need to create and illustrate the book his way.
I will enjoy showing this interesting, quirky book to people at my next Destination: Books popup and I know Gorman is planning another creative endeavor in March of 2020 called Blue Atlas. Long may he ride.
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