Map Design & Layout: Catholic Diocese of Auckland Map
I recently had the opportunity to design and layout a comprehensive map for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland (CDA), bringing together the many churches and schools across the Auckland region.
The project began with collaborating on strategy and ensuring creation occurred with purpose. It also involved communicating what I (as the designer) would source and what the wonderful staff from the CDA would supply.
With so many locations and design elements to bring together, this project was a little like piecing together a puzzle.
The challenge was to create something that was informative and easy to navigate, while still feeling balanced and visually cohesive.
The map shows the location of each site using custom map pins and place names. Including a custom visual system to distinguish between churches, primary schools and high schools. This included a suite of supporting icons and information boxes, incorporating the appropriate icon, text, and colours for each location type. Alongside working with style guidelines for the font, some of the colours used, and ensuring appropriate use of the existing CDA logo. Plus, the file was set up in layers, ensuring that the specifications are print-ready at a very large size—also something AI can't handle.
Careful consideration was given to alignment, balance, hierarchy, scale, and spacing, ensuring that important information could be easily found without overwhelming the map. The result is a practical visual resource that provides an overview of the Diocese while celebrating the many communities, schools and churches that are part of it.
This project was a great example of how thoughtful graphic design and collaboration can turn a large amount of information into something clear, accessible and visually engaging.
I am very grateful to have been asked to design this project, and I hope it will serve as a useful resource for all...
~ Jane
*Note: Al was not used at all in designing the map. However, Adobe Firefly was used to create the two mockups at the bottom of this page.
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