When we launched Map Lab in July 2013, our main goal was to create an excuse to indulge our shared obsession with maps and learn a little bit about mapmaking in the process. Sure, we hoped we’d find some like-minded readers, but the enthusiasm and engagement we encountered went way beyond our expectations. It’s made Map Lab so much fun.
Even more unexpected was the wonderful response we got from people who make maps for a living, right from the start. We can't think of many other professions that would see a couple of journalists saying, "What you guys do is cool, and we're going to try to learn to do it too," and respond by saying, "Great! How can we help?" We have been welcomed, supported, tutored, and encouraged. We couldn’t be more thankful for this.
We are also extremely thankful to WIRED for supporting a passion project like Map Lab. We are very lucky to have worked at a place where we could launch something like this and watch it succeed. And a special thanks to WIRED staff writer Nick Stockton who contributed many ideas and posts to the blog, including his great series, Get to Know a Projection.
But it’s time for us to move on to new mappy adventures. We’re still working out the details of our next project, but we hope to get started soon. Please follow us on Twitter @mapdragons for updates.
In the meantime, we've collected our favorite stories from the past two and a half years in the gallery below. We’ve had a great time exploring the history of maps and the explosion of digital maps and new mapping technology, and getting to know some fascinating people along the way.
