Places matter

Maps for
real places.

Waterloo Atlas Co. creates illustrated maps of neighbourhoods, towns and the places people care about. We combine real geography with thoughtful design to make maps that feel familiar, personal and worth keeping.

Explore our maps

Illustrated Summer Night map of Victoria Park in Kitchener — Victoria Park · Kitchener, Ontario

For new satellite-based stylized computer renderings, we overlay mapped water bodies at 75% opacity to guide shorelines, lakes and rivers. The chosen theme supplies the finished colours and textures. We review the result against the source geography.

Opa sharing a paper map at the dining room table — Maps at the family table.

A family connection

It started with maps at the table.

An interest in maps has always been present in our family. Opa would spread a map across the dining room table, trace the roads he had travelled and share stories of the old country.

Maps gave those stories a place. That connection between people, memories and geography is part of what we bring to Waterloo Atlas today.

From ideas to maps

A few steps along the way.

Since 2020, we’ve been building, experimenting and refining our maps.

Started in 2020

The first version

A web map maker for finding a place and choosing a view to keep.

Website shown from our 2023 archive.

Forest Hill in a playful Video Game map style

Exploring styles

New ways to see a place

Different themes and looks brought a little imagination to familiar streets.

Studies of place icons on an illustrated map

Adding detail

Places with character

Place icons, clearer labels and illustrated landscapes helped bring local details forward.

2026 and beyond

A broader collection

More neighbourhoods, towns and seasonal ideas, with new directions still taking shape.

From our archive

Different ways to see a familiar place.

From the first web map maker to playful worlds and illustrated landscapes, each experiment helped us find a new way to tell a place’s story.

Archive collage: classic, comic and space poster designs from 2020. — Early poster concepts from 2020. These designs are part of our story, rather than current product options.

The original MapPrint website.

Original MapPrint landing page with Every map tells its own story headline and San Francisco poster — The landing page.

Original MapPrint map maker with theme choices, customization controls and an interactive Toronto map — The map maker.

Captured locally from the December 2023 website source. Historical designs and wording.

Six worlds to explore.

Our six kids’ map themes, shown here in Forest Hill.

Comic Book kids’ map of Forest Hill — Comic Book

Jurassic kids’ map of Forest Hill — Jurassic

Treasure kids’ map of Forest Hill — Treasure

Video Game kids’ map of Forest Hill — Video Game

Early Video Game 2.0 map of Victoria Park combining stylized computer renderings with mapped streets and a game-style border — An illustrated landscape
A more illustrated world.
This early Victoria Park map brought stylized computer renderings together with streets, labels and place icons. It opened up a more expressive direction for familiar places.
Earliest saved Video Game 2.0 render · September 23, 2026

Inside the design process

How a theme takes shape.

Find the theme
We explore a visual direction, from quiet landscapes to playful worlds. Reference images and small studies help set the mood.
Choose the layers
We decide how streets, paths, water, buildings and green spaces work together, and which details deserve emphasis.
Build the palette
We balance land, water and road colours so the theme feels cohesive and the map stays easy to read.
Set the lettering
We compare fonts, sizes and spacing for streets and place names. Each label needs a clear place in the hierarchy.
Shape the place icons
We select points of interest and develop their symbols. Shape, scale and placement help parks, cafés and landmarks stand out.
Bring it together
We try headings, plaques, ribbons and borders, then review the full print to refine how every part fits.

New ideas, side by side.

We keep exploring how a map can feel: a quieter symbol, a change of season, the warmth of evening light. These concept boards are studies, not finished maps or available product options.

Ten point-of-interest treatments over an illustrated evening map, including circles, pins and labelled badges. — Small symbols. Meaningful places.
We compare shapes, contrast and labels to see how a park, café or favourite stop can be easy to find.
View concept board

Ten subtle icon concepts using warm light, terrain colours and minimal shapes. — Part of the landscape.
Could an icon feel at home among the paths, trees and lights? These studies explore softer ways to bring places into the scene.
View concept board

The same illustrated park in spring, summer, autumn and winter, shown by day and night. — One place, eight moods.
Seasonal colour and evening light can change how a familiar place feels. We explore these variations side by side.
View concept board

A closer look at place icons

Small details, at home on the map.

Each map has its own visual language. Compare fine outlines, solid symbols, pins and illuminated badges, with a different treatment in every view.

Botanical inkFine green outlines

Solid silhouettesSimple shapes, no container

Terracotta stampsSquare badges with pale symbols

Porcelain pinsPale teardrops with a dark centre

Lantern ringsFine gold circles and a soft halo

ParkBenchCycle

Illuminated labelsA small symbol beside a place name

Copper diamondsAngular badges with warm edges

Frosted medallionsDouble rings in cool white light

Eight different treatments on saved basemap artwork, before place icons and labels are added. Illustrative placements, not a list of available map options.

See the original icon studies on white

A closer look at lettering

A different voice for every place.

The same names, set six ways. Compare how each font shapes a park name, a street label and the quieter lettering over water.