This project, Porto Maphazardly, examines the role of a graphic designer in exploring
alternate means of mapping a location. A square in the Portuguese city of Porto was
mapped through five sensory approaches: sound, smell, taste, activity, and color perception.
The data that was gathered was translated into visuals to create a generated,
but totally unique, graphic portrait of a place. The portmanteau maphazardly in the title
combines the word ‘map’ with the adverb, ‘haphazardly,’ which means to do something
determined by accident rather than design, without a clear plan or at the mercy of
chance. The coining of the word is meant to evoke the extent to which the illustrations
developed in response to observations, encounters and circumstance, rather than a
client brief or a designer’s pre-decided aesthetic.
In this report, the project is contextualized between the theory of critical cartography in
the field of sociology, and the mapping works which already exist in the graphic design
field, including the works of Paula Scher, Pedro Pina, Jeremy Wood, Alison Barnes and
Kate McLean. The report presents a synthesized definition of ‘map’ for use in a visual,
graphic analysis. A limited survey of the principles of information design is discussed, in
its relation to traditional cartography, infographics, and our cognitive interpretations of
maps. Finally, a brief analysis of changes in the nature of maps (smart-maps) is included,
focusing on how user-centered maps have changed how one interacts with a city.
The project endeavors to work in the realm of ‘designer as researcher,’ and is influenced
by the writing of Russell Bestley and Ian Noble on visual research, in which the experiential
nature of the data collection influences the design process. The methodology was
developed through a series of test projects and by the application of ‘walking as method,’
and the report introduces the generative systems which were used to transform data—
notes, photographs, and recordings—into illustrations. The final mappings are presented
along with an analysis of successes and failures
