Karen O’Leary creates visually stunning minimalistic maps through the erasure of information. The North Carolina-based artist and architect cuts out these meticulous designs by hand. Each map is a simplified version of itself, as O’Leary creates negative space by removing land and water. The maps then show what is left behind, which is a striking webs of streets.
Portraying an array of cities, O’Leary captures Paris, New York City and London. Broken down to the bare bones, the maps appear to be the skeletons of the city that they present. As O’Leary describes on her website, the "map is more than just a navigational tool it also tells a story." These maps are more than that, as they can be classified as works of art.
The maps are available through O’Leary’s Etsy page StudioKMO at various price points.
Complicated Cut-Out Maps
Karen O’ Leary Beautifully Charts Geographic Locations
Trend Themes
1. Minimalistic Map Designs - Exploring minimalistic map designs can create disruptive innovation opportunities in the field of cartography and graphic design.
2. Negative Space Utilization - Exploring the use of negative space in artistic representations, like cut-out maps, can lead to disruptive innovation opportunities in the field of visual arts and design.
3. Storytelling Through Maps - Incorporating storytelling elements into maps, such as the ones created by Karen O'Leary, can lead to disruptive innovation opportunities in the fields of geolocation services and tourism.
Industry Implications
1. Cartography - The field of cartography can explore disruptive innovation opportunities by incorporating minimalistic map designs with negative space utilization.
2. Graphic Design - Exploring minimalistic map designs and negative space utilization can disrupt the field of graphic design, allowing for innovative visual representations.
3. Visual Arts - Incorporating negative space utilization and storytelling elements in artistic representations, like cut-out maps, can lead to disruptive innovation opportunities in the field of visual arts.