Historical references for a contemporary personal atlas. The notes below are our design interpretation. Archive images are linked references, not artwork incorporated into customers’ prints.
LETTERING STUDY / SEPTEMBER 2026Labels must identify a place before they decorate a map.
Our application of the sources below: upright settlement names with location dots; larger type for major towns; coastal lettering entirely over water; short, geographically faithful offsets; and deliberate adjustments to crowded coastal groups. Italics distinguish feature descriptions rather than every town near the ocean.
Geoscience Australia — Type Selection and Placement, §§5.3–5.4
Primary cartographic specifications. Names must clearly identify their features. Shoreline settlements are labeled over water, while settlements inland of the shore remain labeled on land.
Axis Maps — Labeling and text hierarchy
Professional guidance on point placement, hierarchy, restrained type families, and legibility at the intended print size.
Reddit / r/cartography — Tools for labeling printed maps
Practitioner discussion, not a formal standard. Contributors describe refining automated placement manually at the final export scale.
Reddit / r/mapmaking — Font, scaling, and tilt critique
Community feedback on readable sizes and horizontal city names for atlas-style maps.
Eduard Imhof — Positioning Names on Maps (1975)
Foundational bibliographic reference. The full paper was not accessed; implementation principles above come from the accessible sources.