Vol X, No. 2 - Summer 2002
Contents |
In Focus |
Mapmaking |
Geonews |
Profile |
Employee
Making maps is one thing; making and publishing maps is another--especially when the maps are yours. Since inception, Mapping Specialists, Ltd. has been a full-service cartography company. Work-for-hire contract work was the name of the game and what built the company. We've done well with this business model. And, thanks to faithful clients like you, we have grown to the point where we are now--a growing, profitable business. Like many businesses, MSL is always looking for ways to expand our horizons without getting away from what we know best: custom cartography. Late in 2001 a chance to expand our horizons presented itself.
Wisconsin has nearly 15,000 lakes and sport fishing is a 2.1 billion-dollar industry. Needless to say, fishing is an important part of the economic and cultural landscape of Wisconsin. We have developed a product that we feel could tap into this market and provide the sport-water enthusiast with something that is not currently being offered.
In the winter 2002 newsletter I wrote about a product line we had developed using the USGS quads and merged relief shading. We have used the same technology to create a brand new line of Mapping Specialists' Lake Maps. The best description of the maps is that they are a 3-D model of the lake or that they show what the lake would look like if all the water were drained out. The maps contain a large amount of information pertaining to the lake. The map side shows the lake "model" as well as surrounding roads, boat launches, parks, points of interest, and Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. The back, or cover side, of the map contains a detailed vicinity map, a description of the lake's location, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources lake management information, a description of the boat launches with facilities, four-color fish identification photos, aquatic vegetation information, and guide notes on how to fish the lake. All of this information is compiled and created by the Mapping Specialists' staff. We currently have nine titles in distribution and have reaped very favorable sales results.
Everyday, people or employees come up with ideas that they feel will make them or their company money. Often these ideas are nothing more than just that, ideas. The Lake Map program started out as an idea. I had always felt that there was a need for some sort of lake-model to help people "see" what a lake was all about. After all, when you look at a body of water, all you see is the surface and have no idea of what is under it. I always wanted to make something (carving, drawing, etc.) that would show people what was under the lake surface effectively. In all honesty, I had forgotten I had the "idea" until the technology became available to create digital relief shadings. Once I remembered I had this "idea," my mind went into overdrive.
With the technology in place the first step was to determine what could be done and the maps' look. After some initial R&D we created a concept of what the maps would be. We knew that most of the maps available were one- or two-color maps with traditional contour lines. Our maps were designed to be four-color with varying values for depth and relief shading to create the 3-D look. This one design element is what separates MSL's Lake Maps from the competition. The design and development of the other pieces of the product fell quickly into place after the 3-D model was completed. We have made some minor adjustments to the initial design and streamlined production techniques to get to where we are now. Printing issues precipitated most of these changes.
Our folded Lake Maps are printed on a product called Yupo by Park Printing House located in Verona, Wisconsin. Yupo is a very durable plastic material. While it can be tricky to print on, Park Printing has done a wonderful job dealing with the medium and providing us with a quality product. The end product is water- and tear-proof, which makes it very appealing to water-sports enthusiast.
In addition to folded maps we also offer a series of wall maps for each lake produced. The wall map consists of all the elements of the map side of the folded map plus a vicinity map. We offer the wall maps at the standard print size of 18 by 24 inches as well as in 150 and 200 percent enlargements. The wall maps are sold to people who hang them in their place of business (resort, restaurant, etc.), lake home, vacation home, or office. These are manufactured at Mapping Specialists, framed, and shipped directly to the purchaser.
The maps are sold from our office as well as at various retail outlets. To date, MSL does all of the distribution, however we may look at using a wholesale distributor once the product line grows in number. As mentioned above, nine titles are currently in print with plans to have 25 by year-end.
In the last six months we at Mapping Specialists have experienced what many of you do on a daily basis--design, develop, create, and distribute a map product--for the first time. It has been an exciting time. Many of you have helped us along the way and we are grateful for that. We look forward to offering our help to all of you by transferring the techniques we've developed for our product line to developing or expanding yours. If there is anything more we can do to help enhance your bottom line, please don't hesitate to give us a call.
- Dave Knipfer
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