Date | Name | Description |
01-11-2025 | Points | Challenge Classic: Map with point data (e.g., individual locations, points of interest, clusters). Focus on effective symbolization and density visualization. |
02-11-2025 | Lines | Challenge Classic: Map linear features (e.g., roads, rivers, migration paths, flow lines). Explore line thickness, color, and direction to convey information. |
03-11-2025 | Polygons | Challenge Classic: Create a map focused on area features (e.g., administrative regions, land use, boundaries). Use fills, patterns, and choropleth techniques. |
04-11-2025 | Data challenge: My Data | Map something personal using your own dataset. Visualize GPS traces, your commute, or a unique, small dataset you created. (Need simple data? Try geojson.io) |
05-11-2025 | Earth | Classical Elements 1/4: Focus on the tangible and grounded. Map landforms, geology, soil, agriculture, elevation, or anything solid beneath your feet. |
06-11-2025 | Dimensions | Map beyond 2D. Visualize data using 3D models, extrusions (building heights), depth, time (as a dimension), or an unconventional multivariate approach. |
07-11-2025 | Accessibility | Map how people (or things) get around. Visualize travel time, barriers, inclusive design, public transport reach, or create a map that is itself highly accessible to all users. |
08-11-2025 | Urban | (World Urbanism Day) Map the built environment: dense street networks, highrises, urban sprawl, city infrastructure, or population density within a metro area. |
09-11-2025 | Analog | Step away from the screen! Create your map using traditional methods (e.g., pen, pencil, paint, collage, physical models). Show the handmade process! |
10-11-2025 | Air | Classical Elements 2/4: Focus on the atmosphere. Map weather, wind patterns, air traffic, pollution, or airborne transmission (e.g., pollen, sound). |
11-11-2025 | Minimal map | Challenge yourself to use the fewest possible elements (color, line weight, labels) while keeping the map clear, useful, and informative. |
12-11-2025 | Map from 2125 | How will maps look 100 years from now? Create a speculative map of what might be (or what you hope will be). |
13-11-2025 | 10 minute map | Start the timer! The maximum allowed time to design and produce this map is 10 minutes. Focus on speed, simplicity, and core communication. |
14-11-2025 | Data challenge: OpenStreetMap | Use OpenStreetMap (OSM) data as your primary source. Map your favorite feature, contribute back to the project, or style the map in an interesting way. |
15-11-2025 | Fire | Classical Elements 3/4: Focus on energy, light, or transformation. Map heat, wildfires, energy consumption, population density at night, or volcanic activity. |
16-11-2025 | Cell | Map something composed of small, discrete units or networks. This could be a geographic cell (raster, tessellation), a cellular network, or a biological/social process (e.g., disease spread). |
17-11-2025 | A new tool | Challenge Classic: Experimentation is key! Create your map using a software, language, library, or technique you have never used before. |
18-11-2025 | Out of this world | Map something non-Earth: a fantasy realm, an exoplanet, the Moon, Mars, deep space, or a purely conceptual place (e.g., a mental map). |
19-11-2025 | Projections | (GIS Day) Focus entirely on map projections. Choose an unusual or misunderstood projection to highlight a theme, or visualize distortion. (See xkcd.com/977) |
20-11-2025 | Water | Classical Elements 4/4: Focus on the fluid. Map hydrology, oceans, currents, water accessibility, sea level rise, precipitation, or anything aquatic. |
21-11-2025 | Icons | Create a map where icons, pictograms, or custom symbols are the main focus. Use them to highlight points of interest or replace traditional cartographic features. |
22-11-2025 | Data challenge: Natural Earth | Use the Natural Earth dataset as your primary source for a visually stunning small-scale world or continent map. |
23-11-2025 | Process | Show how you make a map. This could be a tutorial, a step-by-step graphic, a blog post, a video, or a screenshot of your work environment. Combine it with a map from another day! |
24-11-2025 | Places and their names | Focus on toponymy (place names). Experiment with font choices, label placement, typography, multiple languages, or the history and meaning behind a name. |
25-11-2025 | Hexagons | Challenge Classic: Use hexagonal binning (hexbins) or a hexagonal grid system to visualize your data. Celebrate this beautiful and efficient tessellation! |
26-11-2025 | Transport | (World Sustainable Transport Day) Map mobility, traffic flow, public transit networks, logistics chains, or advocate for sustainable transport options. |
27-11-2025 | Boundaries | Map lines of division—political, physical, ecological, or conceptual. Explore the meaning and impact of a dividing line, real or perceived. |
28-11-2025 | Black | (Black Friday) Interpret the theme of Black. The map can be purely monochromatic, represent absence/darkness (e.g., light pollution), or relate to themes of consumption. |
29-11-2025 | Raster | Challenge Classic: Map using raster data. Focus on satellite imagery, elevation models (DEMs), land cover, or pixel-based art. |
30-11-2025 | Makeover | Take a map you made during the month or an older piece and redesign it. Focus on improving the aesthetics, clarity, or data communication. |
