#thats why it feels so off and distorted hes not including anything unnecessary

[harlockauxillia30k-blog]

35. Do they always rationalize errors? How do they accept disasters and failures?

Harlock sighed, relaxing somewhat as he and much of the regiment moved along aboard large, awkward Gorgon Assault Transports.

Compliance on this world, what was it called... Elysia? Was going well. There had been a few ground engagements so far. The imperials tended to win via mass numbers. Apparently the orbital battle was a tricky one. Anyway; with the Raven Guard raiding enemy installations and the like effective resistance would capitulate quickly, perhaps before even these transports arrived at their destination.

Harlock glanced with a warm smile at his immediate adjutant, 2nd Lieutenant Serena Hargrave, who was presently acting as a kind of unofficial morale officer, and was leading an inspired group of 50 aboard her transport in old lurid drinking songs, although no-one was permitted to be drunk.

As she sashayed this way and that in the cramped interior of the gorgon, his command platoon and some 30 men from first platoon stomped and clapped aboard. Good for them. Driving in these things were usually awful affairs, especially if someone had gas.

Harlock sighed, and gazed up into the cloudy skies above. Yes. Soon these Elysians would see reason. He was sure of it.

That’s when he noticed an odd arrangement of shadows in the clouds.

“Thats... hmm.”

As he watched them, the shadows grew in size, and broke apart. Harlock slowly reached for the vox.

“Not to alarm anyone, but did we have air support for this march?” Harlock asked, dreading the answer.

An old venerable voice answered; Colonel Norn Gloriana. “Not at present captain. Why do you ask?”

Harlock watched a wing of enemy bombers - at least 12 craft, break the cloud cover. They rapidly moved into bombing lanes.

“Sir! Order the men to dismount! Incoming bombers! Scramble us sir!”

Colonel Norn didn’t get to answer. Elysian bombers began making precise bombing across the entire regiment’s transport line. Harlock managed to scream half of a sentence about dismounting, when he saw a line of napalm fire engulf the transports ahead of him. He had precisely six seconds to hear their screams, before a massive blast of heat and fire pushed Harlock down.

He pushed himelf up again. The front half of the gorgon was hit with a tactical napalm bomb. The 20 something men, including the much loved Serena, now screamed and moaned. You could smell their bodies cooking in front of you. Eyes burst and popped out. The desperate dying gripped their comrades, spreading the flames among the transport hold as the packed in Imperials died en-masse. Harlock could also see the liquid fire from the bomb slowly encompass more of the the vehicle.

“G-Get-”

Harlock knew the words, but his mouth failed to utter them. He tried to force himself.

“...out.”

No-one heard him. His staff was dying agonizing deaths.

With limp arms, he pushed up the side and rear of his gorgon and sat upon the edge of his gorgon. Mechanically, he grabbed his soldiers, and hauled them up onto the side, which they then hauled themselves over onto the dirt.

Harlock allowed himself a glance at the rest of the regiment. All he saw were towering pyres in the Gorgons. Handfuls of his men dashed away to either side, scattered. He saw an aircraft strafe a fire-team with autocannons, ripping the poor souls asunder.

He turned and hauled more men out. A sergeant was helping him now, saying nothing. The men were crying, in pain, or shell-shocked by the unexpected violence. In all, around 8 were saved before the fire consumed the entire troop hold. 8 of 50.

As the captain dismounted his dead transport, he threw up onto the dirt. The sergeant had none of this however, and picked up his captain, slinging an arm around his back and moving forward. He was wise; several Gorgon’s exploded from their fuel cells cooking off. In time, his did as well.

The aircraft left, and Harlock organized the remains of the regiment. All told, around two platoons remained. Harlock was the ranking officer alive. Over 1000 men were dead.

Together the group marched through the Elysian lands. Harlock followed a loose nav-map that he had thrown together with old intel and basic information from a Gorgon crewman. It took nine days, until finally they discovered a squad of Raven Guard raiding an ammo dump.

When the guard realized what had happened, they cycled Harlock’s survivors to the rear lines. Harlock spent the rest of the compliance alone, barely saying or eating anything. He had loved this iteration of the regiment. It was quite possibly his favorite. Now all those lives were gone, flushed away like it was nothing.

Harlock listened to the news of the war. After the Raven Guard finally crippled the Elysian’s air fields, even the hidden ones, the planetary defenders gave up and accepted compliance. Really, that was the only reason they held out at all. They were one of those worlds that needed to resist compliance militarily, but were satisfied with a quick defeat. Just had to say they tried, he supposed.

Harlock would have killed every single Elysian he saw- and that, he reflected, was why the survivors were pulled off the line. The Raven Guard did not want unnecessary incidents.

The Elysians managed three days of heavy tactical and strategic bombardment of Imperial lines. The swift and unpredictable Raven Guard were spared almost all of it, leaving the Army to suffer unimaginably. Many regiments were completely decimated.

As for Harlock, he tried everything. His men needed leadership now, and he did what he could to give them purpose. He volunteered the survivors for any labour or helpful menial activity that was offered them. Alcohol rations were doubled. Soldiers were given more leave, so long as it involved no local civilians. But the soul of the unit was wounded. These paltry offerings did not change the fact that loved ones and dear comrades were lost to the cruel and unfeeling demons of war. It was as if dark gods howled with glee at the sorrow of the survivors. There was much darkness, and Harlock kept a painful gaze upon his soldier’s trauma, writing names of men he suspected to be suffing mental illness and the like in a little black book.

His mind often drifted to Serena. He was haunted by visions of her, laughing, dancing, and then screaming, as her face was slowly-painfully slowly, distorted and cooked alive. He could do nothing. His people suffered and died in one of the worst ways imaginable and all he could do was write up the survivors for wholly justified mental trauma.

Something had to be done. Harlock’s soul wouldn't rest if it didn't.

Harlock left camp in the middle of the night, with a few supplies in a small backpack. He found a small cave, and inside it he laid out a parchment, cut his hand slightly to drip a bit of blood on it, and prayed- genuinely prayed- for the souls of the fallen.

He didn’t know who he prayed to. He didn’t know why. He did not feel himself a religious man. But his friends had died, and they were restless. In the face of a terrible loss like that, a man was unarmed, except save for faith.

It didn't matter if it wasn't real.

It didn’t matter if the emperor disapproved.

It didn't matter if their bodies were likely unceremoniously shoved into a mass grave.

It didn’t matter if no-one cared.

Harlock cared.

And this was what he could do.

Harlock did not suffer those dreams anymore. Instead, they simply joined a legion of personal demons and dead friends that lived in the darkness of sleep. Good. That was on him. He survived after all. That was just his burden to bear.

Harlock resumed all of his command responsibilities. A Raven Guard marine informed him days later of reinforcement arrangements. Harlock held the men together until then.

It was his duty to do so.

[lukewoloszczukveevers-blog]

FMP blog

Maps give us the ability to navigate a place otherwise alien to us. By definition a map is: a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features. In spite of this, I see them as much more, and there design is key. Not only can maps give geographical guidance, they allow us to experience the feel and atmosphere of a given location before we have understood it in reality. In addition, maps control the way we use and interact with a space, particularly if we are unfamiliar with the location. The amount of trust we put into maps and mapping is outstanding when you begin to acknowledge the influence they have on society at such great scales.

I’m interested in the way a map can influence the way we behave in a space and how this changes when the map designers consider the compromise between absolute geographical accuracy, ease of use, and aesthetics. The way map designers have to constantly balance a handful of aspects that ultimately must reach a compromise for a finished map is something that interests me. I see it as the ultimate use of efficient and clear graphic design which needs to consider line, colour, shape, form, and typography. A map has the ability to transform the perception of a physical space and needs to be designed with consideration in order for it to fulfil its function correctly.

The obedience some of us have to maps demonstrates the control they have on our movement and our perceived environment. I would like to see how people would obey the stimuli on a map even if its contradicts what they view in reality or if it begins to distort the way they see things. Its often a problematic task getting your bearings in unfamiliar locations due to the fact we over  or under compensate our small movements forgetting about the distances we move and how it effects our location on a large scale. People tend to become fixated in how they initially perceive environments and then are often stunned when seeing where they have been on a large scale and how it contrasts their original perception of that space. The aspect of scale is a great barrier that good map design needs to overcome. It’s extremely hard to imagine a place on a large scale and how it reacts with other places around it, thats why maps are so vital. It’s not just urban environments either. More rural and empty environments can be very hard to interpret as well due to the lack of physical references for the human brain to attach to locations in that space.

Other areas I would like to investigate include the struggle world map designers have as a result of the fundamental problem that its impossible to project a curved 3D object (sphere/the globe) onto a 2D surface (the map). This seemingly simple problem has many solutions but all have trade offs in navigational accuracy, size, and shape of land mass all due to the fact that it isn’t possible to recreate a 3D sphere on a 2D plane. In fact, any large scale map begins to disrupt its usefulness due to the curvature of the earth. In addition to this, whilst reading the book ‘The Map as Art’ by Katherine Harmon some images show the introduction of 3D maps and how they effect space. I see this as another possible starting point and area of experimentation.

Another area of map design that interests me is how a map can encompass the place its providing geographical information about. I feel this is a part of map design that is often pushed to one side but one that should be considered to a greater level. A map should have a studied level of continuity to it that relates to the location in which is represents. This keeps the map and the location as one seamless piece of design rather than two separate items. If this is given more thought the way we then behave and interact with that space could change. A map should make us feel familiar with a place, not make us feel daunted by unknown surroundings. An inviting and simple design is inclined to comfort the viewer and interact naturally and freely in the space. However, a busy, over-complicated, and daunting design is likely to make you feel enclosed by what could be a relatively mundane place, due to the design of the map. These areas of research are starting points for my investigation and are aspects of map design I immediately get drawn to. Nevertheless, I feel as I absorb myself into the subject batter further, I will begin to fully interrogate this subject matter.

As I mentioned earlier, the struggle of creating accurate world maps is an infamous problem for graphic designers. In a video produced by ‘Vox’ an individual attempts to cut open a curved blow up globe and lay it flat. He says “in order to get this globe to look anything close to a rectangle lying flat I’ve had to cut it in several places, I’ve had to stretch it so the countries look all wonky, and even still its almost impossible for it to lay flat. And that right there is the eternal dilemma of map makers. The surface of a sphere can’t be represented in a plane without some sort of distortion.”

As a result of this fundamental problem, the variety and complexity of world map ‘projections’ (the term used to for a world map) is staggering. Since the 15th century mathematicians and designers have been attempting to translate a sphere on to a flat surface with great trouble. The video produced by ‘Vox’ tells us everyone of these projections has trade offs which can be misleading or helpful depending on what you are using it for. The most common projection of the world map is the Mercator projection: its popular as it preserves accurate shape, but also because its perfect for navigation. A line from one location to another on this map gives a reliable way to get from point A to point B. However, the Mercator projection fails greatly in size comparison from country to country, compressing land masses in the centre of the map such as Africa, and inflating places near the poles such as Greenland. This historical and on going problem for map designers is a fascinating insight into this subject matter and one that encompasses some of the reasons I find myself interested in map design.

Another reference that intrigues me into this subject matter is the London tube map. ‘Harry Beck’ the designer of the tube map in 1933 was initially rejected by the publicity department as the design was seen as too radical in comparison to more traditional maps. However, the simple and clear aesthetic pleased the public and as a result became the mapping device used. Nevertheless, it’s highly simplified design can mislead and distort the geography of London. This problem of illusion is exacerbated due to the fact that the tube, in which one uses in conjunction with the tube map, gives no visual bearings or references when using it due to it being underground. This causes a odd form of transportation in which people travel in complete blindness to what they are moving through and therefore have no realisation of distance and direction. The tube map also causes problems when compared to a normal map of London as distances from one place to another are greatly skewed. This is because the tube map is known as a ‘topological map’ that removes unnecessary information and prioritises  ease of use, therefore simplifying distances. This problem was revealed in the recent tube strikes when many found themselves walking to work and acknowledging they had been getting off at a completely illogical tube station for years that was mislead by them reading the tube map. This particular area of map design influenced my decision to investigate this topic due to my intrigue into transport and that I’m studying automotive design at degree next year. I’ve found a way to integrate graphics with transport which may lead to further investigations possibly looking at satellite navigation and road specific mapping later on.

I find this subject area really relates to me as a designer on a number of levels. I have a particularly measured approach to a lot of briefs in which many involve calculations, comparisons and scale. The fact I studied physics at A-level and that I'm going on to do automotive design at degree certainly has a bearing on how I perform as a graphic designer and lend themselves to map design. Furthermore, the brief ‘Dear Data’ I got set earlier in the year was one that really intrigued me. I greatly enjoyed collating data and considering how to present it. I ended up creating a final piece on the amount of ink I had used that whole week whilst doing research for the brief. The final outcome was one in which compared scale and included calculations which lend themselves to this subject area. I see this as even more relative as maps can present data as well as show location as shown in Katherine Harmon’s ‘The Map as Art’ once again. 

To conclude, the everyday use of maps is undermined and overlooked. The potential they have has not yet been fully reached and I intend to explore this. Maps are a lot more than just tools to tell you where you are and where you need to go, they are perfect examples of considered graphic design encompassing a design philosophy then lends itself to compromise and efficiency.