Hawaii Dual

Update, I cleaned up the little white dots Fendi made note of. It turns out my island textures were "bleeding" past the outline just a TINY bit in a few spots. I cleaned them up. Update below.

We have not gotten any intense criticism about the new island shapes and outlines. So lets introduce the next topic for discussion: Island textures. We need to discuss textures before island colors because if I need to change the textures, it would change the color a bit.

So what does everyone think about the current textures of the islands? I used actual satellite images (thanks for the idea Aero). I took the satellite images and converted it to grayscale. Then I played with the opacity and put the color on top.

I know it might be hard to do, but try to focus on the texture and not the colors yet. As soon as we agree textures are okay, then we will fine tune the actual island colors.

Here is the latest update with cleaned up pixilation.

I will start off the feedback, I like the texture, but feel it is too strong at the moment which will force you to increase the intensity of the island colours later on and they will actually need to get less intense. Therefore, try taking the topography (satellite images) down a little in opacity to make them less brash.

It will also help to put a solid white colour island shape behind the texture layers, using the coloured islands as the marquee shape to select and fill with pure white. This will stop the texture darkening when it allows the background to come through, because all that will be behind it is white.

Okay no problem, add a white underlay and reduce the texture opacity, got it! Expect an update in about 24 hours.

There is another way to do it. When I was head cartographer we would put the color layer on the bottom at 100% opacity and overlay the grayscale texture layer. Then you can reduce the opacity of the texture without needing a white layer underneath to mask the background color. To me it made it much easier to get the color right.

Okay thanks Vexer, I will try both and post the results.

Here are the 2 updates I was asked to make. The first is Aero's suggestion of putting a white filter under the texture of the islands, then drop the opacity of the textures of the islands.

The second is Vexer's suggestion to reverse the color and texture layers and then drop the opacity on the texture.

Of the 2 I prefer Vexer's suggestion. I like how it looks better and it is MUCH EASIER to maintain, change, etc...

Remember we are still focusing on the TEXTURES of the islands. On both of these suggestions, I can easily dial up or down the amount of texture that can be seen.

Finally, don't forget that these 2 can still be compared to the image at the top of this page (page 13). If you prefer the original at the top of this page, mention that as well. So we have to decide on which of the 3 to move forward with, and then how much more or less to change the texture or not at all.

Please note: On Aero's, there a white spots (pixels) around the islands. That is because this is a rough draft. If this version is accepted as the final version, I will clean it up.

AERO'S SUGGESTION

VEXER'S SUGGESTION

My bad Clarke, with these versions I have noticed many many colored pixels here and there that are out of the corresponding borders.


Please make sure to delete them with the pencil eraser, so they become completely transparent, instead of the brush eraser, which could make them slightly coloured. In this one (Vexer's) these pixels are less and less notorious than in Aero's suggestion.

Once a version it decided on, it will be cleaned up.

Of the 2 examples, the region colour underlay (Vexer's Suggestion) is the best for keeping colour vibrancy. It allows you to reduce the texture and still keep most of the intensity of the colours.

The white makes the colours more pastel looking.

However, in the white underlay example, the texture looks more subtle, regardless of colour and the texture needs to be a little bit more subtle.

We normally use underlays and overlays to get the colours and clarity just right and it can sometimes be a very fine balance, depending on the brightness or darkness of the map.

Why not try using the colour underlay and a white underlay under that and dropping the opacity of the texture further (on example 2), as well as dropping the opacity of the colour underlay layer as well? This should give you a less contrasting texture and subtler colours.
If you feel you need more vibrancy, also use the solid region colour as an overlay (reduced opacity screen) as well and play with the opacities until you get a good balance for the look and feel of the overall map. Be aware that, overlays reduce texture clarity and sharpness, but his is not always a bad thing.
You can also utilise a dark dissolving outer glow on the land whilst testing this, to show yourself how it might look when a (land to sea) transition is added, rather than a highly contrasting land to sea image. Then, to keep the focus of the advisers on the texture, remove the transition effect before posting it.

I realise you are just trying to get the land texture sorted at the moment, but unfortunately you won't achieve the perfect texture without utilising the intended land colours & tones at the same time. The two normally go hand in hand.

Okay I will give it a try tomorrow and post a couple of things I come up with. Thanks Aero!

I can't tell a noticeable difference in texture between the two. So I'd say whatever is easiest/looks best to you, go with that!

Here are todays updates. The first one it the Vexer suggestion but with lower opacity on the island textures. But, to me I think I went a little too far. The colors became too vibrant. So on the second one I added the white underlay to allow for the more subtle textures and more subtle island colors as Aero suggested.

To me, I am feeling pretty good about "VEXER 3" below. If given the go ahead, I will spend a day cleaning it up. So now it is back in the hands of the community. How does everyone feel about Vexer 1 above, or Vexer 2 below, or Vexer 3 below?

VEXER 2

VEXER 3

I like #3.

3 is best, it has the most subtle texture, but those colours are still too vibrant, you would fare well to test the colour circles that may clash, on the relevant islands.

Are there meant to be 2 white islands? I thought each had a unique colour reference.

will clean up #3 tomorrow. Will make colors a little more subtle. Will clean up stray pixels. Will make sure the white island is white and the gray island is gray. Will test color circles.