Case Study: Illustration of the DreamWorld Park Map

Here’s a run-through of the DreamWorld Park Map Illustration Project from brief to final artwork delivery.

Written and compiled by Doug Wells

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Brief:

The team at Dreamworld contacted me to produce a new Park Map, the existing one was outdated, the footpaths were confusing, specifically around the Tiger Island area. They wanted a map that people could easily follow and find attractions, it also needed to be easily editable for future upgrades and new attractions.

Technique and Tools:

I visited the park during each stage of the project, walking around taking photos and sketching, using a drone to capture still images from a height that gave me good reference for some of the more difficult rides. I made use of NearMaps, an advanced satelite imaging service, to ensure accuracy for wayfinding. Making use of the Adobe Creative Suite I was able to produce an accurate line art top view for stage one approval. Taking this into Cheetah3D, a Mac specific 3D program, I ‘blocked-out’ all the main elements for stage two approval. The final illustration I produced using Adobe Illustrator on a Wacom tablet.

The Wacom tablet gives me freedom to draw organically

Stage One Process:

Wayfinding Acuracy

The main objective of the project was to ensure that guests could easily find their way around the park. I used NearMaps as a base reference point to ensure accuracy, then made a series of site visits where I walked the park drawing the main footpath. Using Adobe Photoshop I overlayed my sketch and the NearMaps satelite image to produce a hybrid top view base. I took this base into Adobe Illustrator and drew in the pathway around the park with all the base elements/building outlined in place. I sent this top view vector line art drawing to the client for approval on positional accuracy. There were a few iterations of this proof as there was some major capital works in progress and lots of changes to the positions of rides and pathway sections

Stage One: NearMaps with pencil sketch overlay.

Stage One: Vector line art for positional accuracy

Stage Two Process:

Blocked-out 3D Model

Once stage one was complete I took the approved line art into my 3D software and modelled the pathwats and base structures, ensuring all rides and attractions were in their correct position using a legend. I experimented with different camera angles to ensure the map was easy to follow. I landed up on a custom isometric view which worked well, as the attractions in the top left of the park were the same size as the attractions in the bottom right. This could not be achieved with a perspective view and is of more interest and shows more 3D aspects as a top view projection. As in stage one there were a few iterations.

Stage One: NearMaps with pencil sketch overlay.

Stage One: Vector line art for positional accuracy

Stage Three Process:

Full Colour Vector Final Map

From the approved 3D model, I added some more detail in 3D, then rendered a final image as a base to use in Adobe Illustrator. Using drone footage, site visit photos and sketches as reference I built up the map using separate layers for attractions and structures so that future upgrades and capital works will be easiy to patch-in to the master illustrator file. Final approval given after a few final iterations.

Stage Three: Final illustration in Adobe Illustrator showing the outline view and the elements grouped in the layers panel.

Conclusion:

Draw-in New Attractions and Provide all Final Editable Files

The map was used for a time until the new ‘Rivertown’ precinct was completed. I did a final site visit taking photos and drone stills to capture the new area prior to opening. I completed the new precinct in a separate layer and the project was approved and complete. I supplied the original editable layered Adobe Illustrator file for the DreamWorld Team to maintain.