If youâve ever wondered what the world would look like as a Death Star, wonder no more. Seattle-based digital artist Eleanor Lutz has tapped into her love of science fiction and computer games to redesign the globe as a monochromatic one, covered in grid lines and pockmarked with bright dots. The result turns our lovely pale blue dot into a menacing space station:
Lutz used some interesting little tricks to remove the humanity from major cities, like Paris (above), which she says is her favorite city to look down on. She lowered the contrast for landmasses and buildings as a way of highlighting city lights and creating a stronger contrast with the âgalaxy oceans.â Along the edges of some waterways, like the edges of Manhattan (below), she added black and yellow caution hazard markers.
To add depth, she created custom texture for the roads and buildings and added custom 3D edges mimicking steel plates. Lutz also increased the planetâs structure by adding grid lines to the outsides of forests and other natural landmarks, things traditional maps rarely draw firm attention to.
In creating the map, Lutz said her favorite part was adding âoversized markers for stores, parks, and other points of interest to simulate city lights.â She even changed the names of major cities for a post-apocalyptic feel. Washington is now Washington Colony (above).
Explore the whole interactive map here, and see what your hometown might look like after colonization by the Galactic Empire.
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Check out more of Lutz’ work! She made a bioluminescent tree of life here and a wonderful animated infographic of North American butterflies here.
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