Whether you're crafting a backdrop for a tabletop game, a novel, or just for the sheer joy of creation, preparing your icons is an important first step. Map icons such as trees, fences, fields, buildings, roads, and rivers play a pivotal role. They are the visual vocabulary with which you'll narrate the geography, culture, and history of your fantasy town. In this post, we'll look at some of the main reasons to prepare icons before drawing your fantasy maps.
Why Prepare Icons Before Drawing Your Fantasy Maps?
Preparation of map icons before you start drawing the entire map is crucial for several reasons:
Consistency:
Having a set of icons ready ensures a consistent style across your map. This coherence is vital in making your map believable and immersive. When all your trees, buildings, and roads follow a consistent design language, your map will feel like a cohesive whole, rather than a disjointed collection of elements.
Efficiency:
Knowing exactly what your icons look like speeds up the mapping process. With icons pre-designed, you can focus on the layout and structure of your town, rather than pausing to design each element as you go. This preparation saves time and allows for a smoother creative flow.
Balance and Detail:
Preparing icons in advance allows you to balance detail and clarity. In top-down maps, icons need to be detailed enough to be recognizable but simple enough to not clutter the map or confuse the viewer. Finding this balance is easier when you can refine your icons separately from the map itself.
Developing a Style:
Your map's style is not just in its color scheme or texture but also in the shape and form of its icons. Whether you're aiming for a whimsical, fantastical look or a more realistic, historical feel, your icons will carry a significant part of that stylistic weight. Preparing them beforehand gives you the opportunity to develop and refine your map's unique style.
Importance of Repetition:
The repeated use of icons not only fills out your map but also contributes to its overall aesthetic and readability. By using a consistent set of icons, you create patterns that the viewer's eye can easily follow, making the map more navigable. This repetition also reinforces the map's style, as the recurring visual elements become thematic motifs that define the look and feel of your fantasy town.
Why Prepare Icons Before Drawing Your Fantasy Maps?
In conclusion, the preparation of map icons is a foundational step in the creation of a top-down fantasy town map. By dedicating time and thought to your icons before you begin mapping, you lay the groundwork for a map that is cohesive, efficient to create, visually balanced, stylistically unique, and easy to read. Your icons are the building blocks of your fantasy world; crafting them with care will ensure that your map is not just a tool for navigation but a window into your creation and the characters that live there.
