Burning Man is an annual event held in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, USA, attracting thousands of participants who come together to celebrate art, self-expression, and community. The scale and complexity of this temporary city is unmatched, as each year brings a new theme. The purpose of my map is to provide an overview of the 2024 event’s layout.
Right off the bat, the map shows the iconic circular structure of the temporary city, capturing its unique organization. It also highlights the streets, main landmarks, and essential facilities like medical stations and restrooms. The roads radiating from the central “Man” and the main Esplanade boulevard are clearly marked, with a special scale that illustrates travel times and distances for each street. Instead of a traditional scale bar, I went for a more user-focused design that provides practical information for navigating the city, whether on foot or by bike. For the same reason of practicality I provided infographics on the weather data during the festival, as well as a short historical note.
The visual concept of the map was inspired by the event’s eclectic atmosphere, using bold typography and artistic elements that reflect the ethos of radical self-expression at Burning Man. This year’s theme, Curiouser and Curiouser, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, celebrates absurdity, chaos, and nonsense. To match the whimsical vibe, I chose a contrasting yet magical, fantasy-like color palette that evokes the feeling of a Wonderland.
The base map was initially created in QGIS using vector data from previous event layouts, and the design was finalized in Adobe Illustrator.
Have a look at all the interesting details in the large png.
The map was created as part of the course Project Map Creation at TU Wien in summer semester 2024.
Student: Tatiana Pozdnyakova