A map showing the distance to points of interest from the Broward County Convention Center
Client: Aqua Marketing & Communications, Inc.
Creative Direction by Thom Hart - Aqua Marketing & Communications, Inc.
This illustrated aerial map presents the greater Fort Lauderdale area and its relationship to the Broward County Convention Center. It was created to help viewers understand how the city’s key destinations, neighborhoods, and infrastructure connect to a central event location within a broader geographic context.
Large area maps of this kind are not a typical part of my work, as they often require balancing visual emphasis with geographic accuracy. Enlarging points of interest while maintaining true scale is inherently challenging, since the two goals can conflict. For this project, the client understood those limitations and embraced a thoughtful, collaborative approach. That openness made it possible to explore what can be achieved when accuracy and illustration are carefully balanced, and the result stands as a strong example of that process.
The map suggests a sweeping aerial view of the city rather than a literal, survey level representation. Residential areas are indicated visually rather than plotted house by house, and clusters of larger buildings suggest areas of higher density that reflect real urban patterns. Major features such as the port and airport are positioned accurately but rendered in a simplified, symbolic way. Street networks are drawn to scale in relation to the coastline and the overall layout of the city, ensuring that distances and orientations remain trustworthy.
A key feature of this map is the use of proximity rings centered on the convention center. These rings allow viewers to quickly gauge relative distances to surrounding points of interest. They often reveal relationships that are not immediately obvious, helping users better understand how locations relate to one another within the larger Fort Lauderdale area.
TOWN AND CITY MAPS:
(and maps of similar areas)
