Hand-drawn Map made by Local University Students

Last year, when I took part in a handcraft market in Nanjing, what has caught my eyes is the hand-drawn map that was made by local university students to illustrate some interesting places, including popular restaurants, fancy clothing and grocerystores, and places for entertainment near the university town. The way that these hand-drawn maps are made is very creative and quite extraordinary to the traditional map that we are used to using.

The owner of these maps tells me that these maps are not so precise and she draws them according to her memory and familiarity with the places, and each of the maps is made for different purpose. For example, the maps in Figure 1, 2 and 3 are made for the sake of freshman and visitors of the university town. This map is like an outcome of experience from senior students for these new comers of the university who want to find some interesting places for relaxing and entertaining. Interestingly, besides the portraits of the appearance of the stores, the author adds her personal opinions on each store, whether it is worth going or not, where you can bargain and get a better price, and what is supposed to be a “Must Try” in this store, etc.

Furthermore, the maps in Figure 6, 7 and 8 are made like an introduction of university, which includes a short verbal introduction of each department, faculty and staff of the university, and it provides the official website through which you can get more detailed information. These maps offer an easy and convenient way for senior high school students, who are busy at preparing for the University Entrance Examination, to get the most official information and thus, make a smart decision.

On the other hand, hand-drawn maps are not constrained by time and space. Some of the maps are made by graduates as a way to cherish their memories of the university lives and express their love to the university. Some of the constructions and buildings have already been pulled down, but are still shown on the map, and they are marked as “demolished” (see Figure. 4 and 9). So one map could include everything that the author wants to draw on it, no matter it belongs to the past or the present.

Another distinguished feature of hand-drawn map is that it sacrifices the accuracy in scale so as to deliver more visual information to the readers. Like the map shown in Figure 9, the upper left of the map is the West Campus, while the lower right is the North Campus. The actual distance between them far exceeds the distance shown on the map, so the map is distorted for clarity and not drawn to scale.

Figure. 1 Hand-Drawn Map of Jiangning University

Figure. 2 Hand-Drawn Map of Jiangning University

Figure. 3 Hand-Drawn Map of Nanjing Normal Univeristy

Figure.4 University Map Like a Photo Seen From the Satellite

Figure. 5 The Cover Page of the Hand-Drawn Map of Nanjing University

Figure. 6 Hand-Drawn Map of Shanghai University Town

Figure. 7 Hand-Drawn Map of Shanghai University Town

Figure . 8 Hand-Drawn Map of Shanghai University Town

Figure. 9 North and West Campus of Zhejiang University