I have an interest in maps and map projections. I haven't made very many but one day I decided to make some. Here are a couple of the latest ones I've done. They use satellite imagery to be in color. No cities or country labels. It's just the Earth as seen from space... sort of... it's an artistic representation, not meant to be used for accuracy. I started with Satellite imagery, but with satellite imagery it can be hard to see all the lakes and rivers, unless you zoom way way in. I just zoomed in far enough to have each 10x10 cell fill my computer screen and grab it. I then decided to use several different atlases to determine and draw in lakes and rivers, as well as better define coastlines. Satellite imagery is also kind of flat, so I removed the text from one atlas in order to obtain the shading of mountains and add that as well.
This is probably the "roundest" of all these polyhedral globe maps that I've done so far. It's basically the same as the one listed below this one, only with 60 pieces instead of 42. In both cases, I THINK that these qualify as Polar Zonohedrons. If you are an expert on Polar Zonohedrons let me know. In the mean time, you might like this "rounder" version more than the 42 piece version seen below. But frankly, I think the 42 piece version is pretty round, considering it's only 42 pieces. This 60 piece version is a little more time consuming and difficult to assemble, but might be worth the effort if done well. There are a few more things I like about this pattern, see if you can guess what they are. Download a PDF HERE! And if you like it, make a donation to my PayPal account (palmprints.com).
This might be my favorite polyhedral globe projection ever. I worked this out myself. I have no idea if this exact pattern already exists, or if I invented it. I can't imagine I invented it, but if I didn't, I don't know what it's called. I THINK it might qualify as a Polar Zonohedron, but I'm not sure. If you are an expert on Polar Zonohedrons, let me know. I like it because, at 42 pieces, it strikes a good compromise between roundness or sphericalness and simplicity. For just 42 pieces, it looks pretty spherical from almost every angle. Low polygon globes often look very un-round from certain angles. I think there is only one angle where this one comes up a little bit short. Most of the time it looks pretty round. Where the seams cut through land comes out pretty good too, considering it's 42 pieces. One spot that is most unfortunate is New Zealand, where the seam not only cut through, but at the same exact angle, splitting the land between two panels all the way along. Poor New Zealand, always overlooked on world maps. Sorry, but so many other seams fell in good places with this arrangement that I had to use this one. There are a few more things I like about this pattern, see if you can guess what they are. Download a PDF HERE! And if you like it, make a donation to my PayPal account (palmprints.com).
Here is another polyhedral globe projection. I kind of lost interest half way through making it, so it's not the best one. It uses a Pentagonal Icositetrahedron shape. It's a cool shape, but being only 24 pieces, it's kind of chunky and not as round or spherical as I originally thought it would be. But I did finish making it, so here it is. Download a PDF HERE! And if you like it, make a donation to my PayPal account (palmprints.com).
Here is another globe; pentagons around polar hexagons. A little more distortion than some, but still interesting. The one in the picture below was made by glueing to corrugated cardboard, cutting off the tabs and taping the pieces together. The seams are tight that way, and the whole globe is much more solid and resistant to being crushed. You can download a PDF of this globe HERE!. It's free, but if you like it, send some money to my PayPal account!! (palmprints.com)
This one is just a straightforward gridded globe. It doesn't use any exotic polyhedral designs like a Rhombic Triacontahedron seen below. It just uses Trapezoids, up to the poles, where the trapezoids turn into triangles. If you print it out, you will see that each trapezoid has tabs that tell you which one gets glued to which. Alternatively you could mount your printouts to something solid like foam core or corrugated cardboard and just cut out each shape, minus the tabs, and glue or tape each piece together that way. You can download a PDF of this globe HERE. It's free, but if you like it, send some money to my PayPal account!! (palmprints.com)
The one in the picture below was made by spray mounting to corrugated cardboard, cutting off the tabs and taping the pieces together. The seams are tight that way, and the whole globe is much more solid and resistant to being crushed.
This next one uses a bunch of hexagons that turn into diamonds at the poles. If you print it out, you will see that each piece has tabs that tell you which one gets glued to which. Alternatively you could mount your printouts to something solid like foam core or corrugated cardboard and just cut out each shape, minus the tabs, and glue or tape each piece together that way. You can download a PDF of this globe HERE. It's free, but if you like it, send some money to my PayPal account!! (palmprints.com)
The one in the picture below was made by spray mounting printouts to heavier paper, scoring and folding the tabs in, and glueing the tabs to each other. The seams are usually not as tight with this method, and the globe is not as sturdy or resistand to being crushed.
Here is another projection that also uses satellite imagery. This is an earlier attempt than the ones shown above, so it does not use the same imagery... it looks a little bit different. Either way, it's just the Earth as seen from space... sort of... it's an artistic representation, not meant to be accurate. This is a stereo shot of an assembled one. The left and right images are switched for cross eyed viewing. It is on a Rhombic Triacontahedron. You can download the PDF and print out eight 4 up images on 8.5 x 11 paper and then mount to some heavier paper to assemble. It's free, but if you like it, send some money to my PayPal account!! (palmprints.com) Download the 4 Up Color PDF!
or... Dowload an 8 Up color version where you only print out four 8.5 x 11 pages,
or... Dowload an 8 Up black and white version where you only print out four 8.5 x 11 pages and can color in the continets and oceans any way you want, or not color anything in at all.
Here are a few other polyhedral globes that I made before making the satellite imagery that was used in the globes above. Maybe some day I'll redo these with satellite imagery, or maybe not.
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