Designing the Map - Stage 1

Stage 1

Starting to visualise the map, I wanted an selection of very different ideas to start from.

Stage 1: Map 1

Map 1 was very much based on our world, and the layout of islands in a similar tone. The North was very small to resemble Britain, and display the scale and unlikelihood of such a small landmass producing so much damage over the world during the British empire.

Stage 1: Map 2

Map 2 took more inspiration from the middle-earth map, where the land is connected and there is far less sea. Immediately I didn't like this design as much as it didn't leave much space for the pirate characters to have any space in, nor serve any real purpose while everything is reachable by land.

Stage 1: Map 3

In this map I wanted to go in the opposite direction to map 1 and 2, and use more water and the north to look larger and more dominant over the land beneath it, two aspects I liked. If further developed, I do feel like it would require more islands. as momentarily it looks rather plain.

Stage 1: Map 4

This, was another idea completely. I decided to take inspiration for the Edge Chronicles book series' map, where floating islands make up the world. The ships could fly as they do in Stardust and Pan (2015), and there would be ladders, ropes, and other means of travel between the islands. I liked this idea but felt it wasn't exactly original, nor did it entwine the theme of 'based on realism' that we already had (animals, history, etc).

Stage 1: Map 5

Here I developed on the idea of Map 4 with the realm of the dinosaur under neath the plain of the normal world. It was still and interesting idea, but I feel Map 1 was the closest to what I wanted, and best fitted the theme we had been following so far, so this is the one I wanted to develop further.