![Hand drawn Hillshade of mountain near Anchorage Alaska with Knik Glacier](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VideoEnding-scaled.jpg)
Drawing Hillshade by Hand with Pencils. A tutorial (with time-lapse videos)
Learn how to hand draw beautiful shaded relief hillshades in this 6-step tutorial.
![map preview with aerial imagery](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IndexThumbforblogpost-1024x1024.jpg)
Animated Flyover Map in ArcGIS Pro and Adobe After Effects
Building maps often requires multiple software applications. In fact, I cannot recall a map that I’ve made in the last...
![Animated John Snow cholera death map made with Adobe After Effects and ArcGIS Pro and Adobe Illustrator](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/web-portfolio-snow-01.png)
Reimagining the John Snow Cholera Map with Animation
Last week marked Esri’s annual User Conference in San Diego, and what a conference it was! It’s always fun to...
![Slide of Globe rendered as 3D-esque](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GlobSlide-1-1024x577.png)
3D Shading & Rendering in Illustrator: A Globe
In a few quick steps, you can give a circle-shaped vector path a 3D-rendered appearance in Adobe Illustrator. I’m a...
![High Alpine typeface preview](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Promo_6_Blog_Square-1024x1020.png)
The High Alpine typeface is available now!
High Alpine Semibold has an unapologetically high ascender with no accompanying adjustment to the x-height. The descender was kept rather short as well, allowing uppercase to maintain its towering command. For moments when you designers feel like reaching ultimate heights, I've added many alternative characters; uppercase crossbarred characters have alternatives with daringly high crossbars, and stemmed lowercase characters have longer-stemmed alternatives. Many further glyphs are included with this font to accommodate multiple languages.
![locations of us post offices in the 50 states](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Blo_01-1024x576.jpg)
A Glimpse of the USPS Landscape with Maps
By the time I publish this, I will have just finished presenting at the 40th annual North American Cartographic Information...
![Map of Alaska showing the westernmost part of Alaska add the Pacific Ocean](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Alaska_Sample_826x465.png)
The Font is Ready! BellTopo Sans Fonts Design Complete
About the BellTopo Sans Font I designed the BellTopo Sans font, originally inspired by the typefaces on the antique U.S.G.S....
![hillshade map with sample of typeface throughout](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/twitterPost2-1024x743.png)
Typography for Topography: BellTopo Sans Typeface & Free Font
While making my own USGS-inspired maps, my search never returned the exact type of font I was looking for. The fruitless search was serendipitous however, because it provided the push to make my own. It was designed for map labels that are no larger than 80-100pt, but usually much smaller. I decided to name it BellTopo Sans with the plan to create a serif version.
![Cartoonish Washington state map in semi-nordic style](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/TitleSlide-1024x576.png)
Video is up! Colored Pencil Hillshade
The North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) holds a marvelous annual conference, and this year’s was in Tacoma, Washington just...
![Red River Gorge small map](https://www.sarahbellmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/twitter_NewVersion-1-e1573086039407-1024x790.png)
Adobe MAX 2019: Mapping
By the time you are reading this, my colleague John Nelson and I will have presented to a bunch of...