For 26 years, Mapping Specialists, Ltd. has been at the forefront of providing the cartographic and graphic services that our clients require. Electronic publishing advances at a rate that amazes us. What was once thought to be the stuff of science fiction continues to appear at trade shows and on Web sites almost daily. Adaptation is the key to keeping up.

We have always made our best effort to adapt to the publishing market’s ever-changing demands. At one of our management team’s annual strategic planning meetings in the late 1990s, we decided to expand the diversity of our services and capabilities. Our managers assumed that a major technology shift would occur and that our client mix would change significantly. The result was that several new markets emerged as avenues to explore. This not only limited the risk from relying too heavily on one or two industry sectors, but also helped broaden our menu of services to make ourselves available to more companies. Within just a few short years, we offered large format printing, print-on-demand services, and finishing, two lines of retail products, and we created our GIS department.

That process also set the stage for continued upgrades and additional services for our existing markets. As computer hardware and software advanced, we kept pace. One Adobe representative told us at a conference that cartographers always seem to be the ones who push the software and hardware to its limits. The latest versions of the Adobe Creative Suite and other software allow us to create maps, graphics, and interactive illustrations that we once could only dream of assembling. We have some samples of some of those in our Web portfolio. Not only are there examples of static maps and illustrations that we have created, there are also several electronic graphics. Animated and interactive maps and illustrations are well within the scope of our core services. In addition to static maps and graphics, we have been creating electronic illustrations for other subject areas such as the sciences and mathematics.

Our team has also provided electronic and Web interfaces for a number of our clients. These include kid-friendly interfaces for elementary students as well as more sophisticated platforms for the high school and college markets. Please contact us to see additional examples of these. That soon led to the development of a series of educational games geared toward fourth through sixth graders which are posted on our Web site.

As the publishing world changes and evolves, Mapping Specialists, Ltd. has also continued to adjust as necessary to provide the best in quality, service, and technology to meet our clients’ high standards.