30DayMapChallenge

Daily social mapping project happening every November

The official repository for #30DayMapChallenge, a daily mapping challenge open to everyone.

| Date | Name | Description | |------------|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01-11-2025 | Points | Challenge Classic: Map with point data (e.g., individual locations, points of interest, clusters). Focus on effective symbolization and density visualization. | | 02-11-2025 | Lines | Challenge Classic: Map linear features (e.g., roads, rivers, migration paths, flow lines). Explore line thickness, color, and direction to convey information. | | 03-11-2025 | Polygons | Challenge Classic: Create a map focused on area features (e.g., administrative regions, land use, boundaries). Use fills, patterns, and choropleth techniques. | | 04-11-2025 | Data challenge: My Data | Map something personal using your own dataset. Visualize GPS traces, your commute, or a unique, small dataset you created. (Need simple data? Try geojson.io) | | 05-11-2025 | Earth | Classical Elements 1/4: Focus on the tangible and grounded. Map landforms, geology, soil, agriculture, elevation, or anything solid beneath your feet. | | 06-11-2025 | Dimensions | Map beyond 2D. Visualize data using 3D models, extrusions (building heights), depth, time (as a dimension), or an unconventional multivariate approach. | | 07-11-2025 | Accessibility | Map how people (or things) get around. Visualize travel time, barriers, inclusive design, public transport reach, or create a map that is itself highly accessible to all users. | | 08-11-2025 | Urban | (World Urbanism Day) Map the built environment: dense street networks, highrises, urban sprawl, city infrastructure, or population density within a metro area. | | 09-11-2025 | Analog | Step away from the screen! Create your map using traditional methods (e.g., pen, pencil, paint, collage, physical models). Show the handmade process! | | 10-11-2025 | Air | Classical Elements 2/4: Focus on the atmosphere. Map weather, wind patterns, air traffic, pollution, or airborne transmission (e.g., pollen, sound). | | 11-11-2025 | Minimal map | Challenge yourself to use the fewest possible elements (color, line weight, labels) while keeping the map clear, useful, and informative. | | 12-11-2025 | Map from 2125 | How will maps look 100 years from now? Create a speculative map of what might be (or what you hope will be). | | 13-11-2025 | 10 minute map | Start the timer! The maximum allowed time to design and produce this map is 10 minutes. Focus on speed, simplicity, and core communication. | | 14-11-2025 | Data challenge: OpenStreetMap | Use OpenStreetMap (OSM) data as your primary source. Map your favorite feature, contribute back to the project, or style the map in an interesting way. | | 15-11-2025 | Fire | Classical Elements 3/4: Focus on energy, light, or transformation. Map heat, wildfires, energy consumption, population density at night, or volcanic activity. | | 16-11-2025 | Cell | Map something composed of small, discrete units or networks. This could be a geographic cell (raster, tessellation), a cellular network, or a biological/social process (e.g., disease spread). | | 17-11-2025 | A new tool | Challenge Classic: Experimentation is key! Create your map using a software, language, library, or technique you have never used before. | | 18-11-2025 | Out of this world | Map something non-Earth: a fantasy realm, an exoplanet, the Moon, Mars, deep space, or a purely conceptual place (e.g., a mental map). | | 19-11-2025 | Projections | (GIS Day) Focus entirely on map projections. Choose an unusual or misunderstood projection to highlight a theme, or visualize distortion. (See xkcd.com/977) | | 20-11-2025 | Water | Classical Elements 4/4: Focus on the fluid. Map hydrology, oceans, currents, water accessibility, sea level rise, precipitation, or anything aquatic. | | 21-11-2025 | Icons | Create a map where icons, pictograms, or custom symbols are the main focus. Use them to highlight points of interest or replace traditional cartographic features. | | 22-11-2025 | Data challenge: Natural Earth | Use the Natural Earth dataset as your primary source for a visually stunning small-scale world or continent map. | | 23-11-2025 | Process | Show how you make a map. This could be a tutorial, a step-by-step graphic, a blog post, a video, or a screenshot of your work environment. Combine it with a map from another day! | | 24-11-2025 | Places and their names | Focus on toponymy (place names). Experiment with font choices, label placement, typography, multiple languages, or the history and meaning behind a name. | | 25-11-2025 | Hexagons | Challenge Classic: Use hexagonal binning (hexbins) or a hexagonal grid system to visualize your data. Celebrate this beautiful and efficient tessellation! | | 26-11-2025 | Transport | (World Sustainable Transport Day) Map mobility, traffic flow, public transit networks, logistics chains, or advocate for sustainable transport options. | | 27-11-2025 | Boundaries | Map lines of division—political, physical, ecological, or conceptual. Explore the meaning and impact of a dividing line, real or perceived. | | 28-11-2025 | Black | (Black Friday) Interpret the theme of Black. The map can be purely monochromatic, represent absence/darkness (e.g., light pollution), or relate to themes of consumption. | | 29-11-2025 | Raster | Challenge Classic: Map using raster data. Focus on satellite imagery, elevation models (DEMs), land cover, or pixel-based art. | | 30-11-2025 | Makeover | Take a map you made during the month or an older piece and redesign it. Focus on improving the aesthetics, clarity, or data communication. |

The idea is to create maps based around different themes each day of November using the hashtag #30DayMapChallenge. You can prepare the maps beforehand, but the main idea is to publish maps on the dedicated days. Just include a picture of the map when you post to X/Instagram/Linkedin (or your preferred social media platforms) using the hashtag. You don't have to sign up anywhere to participate. There are no restrictions on the tools, technologies or the data you use in your maps. Doing less than 30 is also fine. See the Code of Conduct at the bottom of the page.

Data 🗺

You can use whatever data you want. But here are a few sources which could help you to get started or give you new ideas 👇

• OpenStreetMap
  • OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. If you seek for easy ways to get an extract of the data, you can check for GeoFabrik for Shapefiles or Overpass API for GeoJSONs etc..
• Overture Maps Foundation
  • OMF publishes global data extracts monthly which are a combination of OpenStreetMap and other open data sources.
• Natural Earth Data
  • Natural Earth is a public domain map dataset available at 1:10m, 1:50m, a