Worst. Maps. Ever.
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Kathy and I went to the Arclight yesterday and had a few minutes to kill between dinner and our movie. We stopped by the bookstore and I started browsing the Los Angeles selections. When I picked up the Architecture Tours L.A. Guidebook: Downtown I knew I had to buy it. While the content is a fairly generic look at Downtown's architecture, the maps inside the book are fascinatingly awful.
I've talked about bad maps before, but this one takes the cake. It's simply incomprehensible. I have to believe that somehow they took the different layers -- major roads, minor roads, street text, POI text -- and just offset each one by a random value. It's not just a single page either, there are nine maps inside the book. Each is as bad as the first.
The book was published in 2004 and was obviously still on sale yesterday when I picked it up. Schiffer Publishing still lists the title on its website and bafflingly even includes a picture of one of the maps.
Let your mind boggle with mine while checking out these photos. After the jump I've included a couple of my favorites.
Steve on April 01, 2007, at 04:38PM – #1
It's not just randomly offset layers: last time I checked Figueroa was a "St" not a "Bl"!
Benjamin Pezzillo on April 01, 2007, at 06:34PM – #2
I think these people do the maps for FilmLA.
Kenarch on April 02, 2007, at 10:43AM – #3
Reminds me of some CAD work I sent out to a consultant a few years ago... obviously the people putting it together have no idea about what a map is, how to present it, or how to edit it... not to mention proof it.
I think it's a new Homeland Security program to disrupt terrorism... yeah, that's it!!!
Probably a lot more effective than some of the things that are going on these days...
Ginny-Marie Case on April 03, 2007, at 01:54PM – #4
OMG - Ben...that made me laugh so hard, I snorted at work!
Benjamin Pezzillo on April 03, 2007, at 03:37PM – #5
Hope you weren't drinking milk at the same time!