Map of the Crusades, 11th–13th century – two centuries of history on a single board.
A school history wall chart on which students can follow the successive crusades from Europe to the Holy Land – in textbook format and as a large board hung in the classroom.
client
Wig – educational aids
series
12 school wall charts
our role
graphic design and DTP
goal
infographics and responsiveness
Challenge
The map is one of twelve thematic wall charts prepared for schools, alongside boards on history, biology and geography. It had to show nearly two centuries of events on a single surface: several expeditions that set out from different parts of Europe and reached the Middle East by different routes.
- content aligned with the primary school curriculum
- many routes at once
- crusader states, battles, cities and dates on one map
- audience – students
- printing on various surfaces, including very large ones
- a look consistent with the other charts in the series
Premise
A student familiar with textbook maps should be able to tell the individual crusades apart on the classroom wall chart too, without any extra explanation.
Solution
We developed the map based on the curriculum material, then prepared the entire graphic layer and the print files. The layout and legend follow the maps students know from their textbooks, so the chart can be read right away.
- layout and legend modelled on school textbooks
- each crusade marked with its own colour and description in the legend
- clear hierarchy
- information presented as an infographic
- the entire project created in vector graphics
- DTP preparation for various print formats
Responsiveness in print
Thanks to vector graphics, the same map works both in a small format and on a large-format board.
