Making Maps: DIY Cartography

Q: That weird stuff in Making Maps… did you hack your book?!

A: Hacking has diverse meanings as documented at Wikipedia. It can be a prank or elaborate joke, a clever solution to a problem, a legal or illegal modification of a computer program (for good or evil purposes), or anything that is fun and clever. A hack can also serve to undermine the hegemonic discourse of advertising or media or government or science or academia. Maps can be hacked as a prank or joke, to solve a particular problem, or to generate some creative outcome not intended by the original map. Of course, a map hack may also serve to assault and undermine hegemonic discourse. Can a textbook full of rules and regulations about map design, such as Making Maps be hacked by its author, the hacking embedded in the design and content of the book? Nah, that would be absurd.