>TYPE arizona.txt is a map I put together for the Arizona Geographic Information Council (AGIC) annual meeting in 2025. It’s entire purpose is to distill a few datasets (roads, rivers, land cover categorized as general biomes) into an ASCII-art style display. I added a simulated CRT screen effect over the map, which does somewhat make it harder to look at, but feels faithful to the inspiration. I used a collection of five symbols from the ASCII symbol library for each biome, then randomly applied those five symbols to each square in a small grid that covers the state of Arizona. I think this one turned out great! From the map:

“ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character encoding standard that maps characters like letters, numbers, and symbols to numerical codes, forming the foundation of digital text representation. Its simplicity and compatibility made it a natural choice for early computing systems, especially in environments with limited graphical capabilities. Iconic Disc Operating System (DOS) games from the 1980s, such as Rogue, Moria, and Nethack, used ASCII to create immersive worlds within the constraints of minimal graphic capabilities. This tradition of symbolic representation was carried forward into later works like the 2006 cult classic Dwarf Fortress, where ASCII art brought sprawling civilizations to life. This map represents selected features of the state of Arizona through ASCII art to challenge how we perceive familiar places and to view one such place with a new sense of wonder and fantasy. Data Sources: Arizona Biomes data retrieved from Arizona Geographic Alliance; Interstates and Rivers retrieved from Arizona Department of Transportation. Map created by Michael Huff, 2025.”

A couple images to help visualize where the inspiration came from:

This map was awarded the “GIS 4 Fun” award from the Arizona Geographic Information Council (AGIC). The full AGIC map gallery for 2025 can be viewed here.

© 2025 Michael Huff | HuffMaps.com | Cartography, design, and spatial storytelling