Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium Facility Floor Plan, Chicago, Illinois
Based upon architecural and engineering blueprints, Randal constructed a new campus master floor plan in Adobe Illustrator, reflecting the addition of the Oceanarium, and the location of all important areas for visitors. These were printed and used by museum docents to direct visitors to areas or amenities of interest or need.
Shedd Aquarium & Oceanarium Campus Map
Randal Birkey was contacted by the world famous John G. Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium in 1991, to illustrate their new campus map, and new facility floor plan based upon the major building expansion project they were completing.
Based upon architectural and engineering blueprints, Randal constructed a new campus master plan in Adobe Illustrator, reflecting the addition of the Oceanarium, and the connections to the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and nearby parks and Chicago lake front recreational facilities.
Atlantic City, New Jersey - Map Illustration
This preliminary city map was illustrated in Adobe Illustrator by Randal Birkey and intended for use to sell advertising to the businesses in that city. It featured all the major casinos, and shopping spots as a means to attract additional businesses to advertise on the map. Each new business would have their building and location added in 3D to the map, to match the other buildings. A key to the advertisers and additional ad space was to be added to the outside edge of this map.
Detail Area of the Atlantic City Map
The style of this map is called an axonometric projection. To create this, the 2D base map is rotated off axis (North is in the upper right corner), which allows for the building to be projected in a 3D fashion, straight up vertically from the base. The advantage is that the base map is still to scale and can be used for relatively accurate distances.
The George School Campus Map
Randal was commissioned by The George School in Newtown, PA. to illustrate their campus map for print and display use. Randal worked with sepia ink to layout the line art on watercolor board, then added watercolor washes, and color pencil for texturing.
Parkway North Office Building Site Plan
Randal Birkey was commissioned by Chicago commercial real estate development firm LaSalle Partners to prepare a site plan of a new development in the northern suburbs of Chicago. This color study was done on neutral gray illustration board using color pencils.
The Alter Group - Typical Site Plan
During the 1980’s and into the early 1990’s, Randal Birkey created hundreds of maps, site plans, master plans and architectural renderings of real estate development projects by The Alter Group. The Alter Group has been a real estate developer in the Chicago area for over 50 years, responsible for many of the most prestigious business developments in the area.
The illustration style we adopted was a loose, sepia pen & ink line style with watercolor added for texture and color. This look became part of The Alter Group brand look and design during those years.
Randal’s friend Rich Nickel and Rich Nickel Design became The Alter Group’s preferred design firm, keeping the standard of their visual design and brand standards very high.
This site plan was from the Lake Center commercial business development, and the one below was the Tektronix location development plan.
The Alter Group - Typical Site Plan
The Atlanta Gift Fair - Map Illustration
The Gift Fair is a yearly trade event at the AmericasMart in Atlanta, Georgia featuring specialty gifts and wares from around the world.
The convention promoters required a map for show attenders to help orient them to the area, in a user-friendly aerial perspective view.
Randal Birkey was commissioned to produce this digital watercolor aerial forced-perspective map. The final file was delivered to the design agency and imported into standard digital page layout software for final print reproduction.
Watercolor Map of Bethesda Maryland for Real Estate Developer
The ad agency for a Maryland based real estate developer contacted Randal Birkey as the result of a web search. The agency required a map of the downtown area of Bethesda, Maryland, on which to locate many area amenities for a print brochure on a proposed new high-rise condominium project.
Randal created this digital watercolor map using aerial photography as a reference point. He used an Apple Macintosh computer running a software program called Painter (now a Corel product). Digital “Watercolor brushes” were controlled using a Wacom tablet connected to Randal’s computer. The final files were formatted and prepared in Adobe Photoshop, and delivered to the customer via email.
Ameritech Mobile and Ameritech Paging were major wireless carriers headquartered in Chicago during the 1980′s as the cellular-mobile-paging market was in its infancy. These firms were an outgrowth and result of the old Bell Telco system before deregulation. Randal did a lot of illustration work for Ameritech Mobile and Ameritech Paging during the 1980′s and 1990′s including coverage maps like the one displayed here. These maps would be reprinted in brochures and flyers, as well as printed on larger display boards for display in retail locations.
Ameritech Paging Services - Great Lakes Area Coverage Map
Randal did this aerial perspective of a mission for an educational textbook through Design Associates for Scot Foresman, the publisher. The idea was to illustrate a typical mission as it was usually organized and built. The book designers added labels and captions to the illustration and students would learn where the mill was, the well, stables, gardens, chapel, barns, etc. Randal worked from references provided by the designers, and created a completely fictitious aerial view for this application.
Aerial Perspective of a Typical Mission