City Character Prints
The Poster Maps Published by Archar Inc., Toronto, Ontario.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15353/acmla.n173.5669Keywords:
Map ephemera, promotional posters, pictorial mapsAbstract
Archar Inc. of Toronto, Ontario was one of the most prolific publishers of pictorial poster-maps of North American cities during the 1970s and 1980s. Their “City Character Prints” were three dimensional perspective maps created by artists to evoke the unique spirit of a place by including illustrations representative of city symbols, historical facts and cartoon-like caricatures of prominent citizens. Costs of poster production were subsidized by collecting advertising fees from local businesses and attractions in return for promotion on the finished map.
References
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Horsby, S. J. (2017). Picturing America: The golden age of pictorial maps. University of Chicago Press.
Krier, B. A. (1979, Oct. 18). City in caricature: Putting L.A. on the map. The Los Angeles Times, 81; 97.
Southworth, M. & Southworth, S. (1982). Maps: A visual survey and design guide. Little, Brown. https://archive.org/details/mapsvisualsurvey00sout
Stevens, R. (2023). The cartoon-style poster maps of Trans Continental Cartographers Ltd., Vancouver, B.C. Bulletin - Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA), (172), 19-25. https://doi.org/10.15353/acmla.n172.5459
Treib, M. (1980). Mapping experience. Design Quarterly, 115, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.2307/4091019.
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