I'm thrilled to announce that I will soon be an author! My book, The Twin Cities in 50 Maps, is a cartographic portrait of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The book includes 50 painstakingly designed maps and deeply researched essays that trace the Cities' urbanity, history, ecology, and culture.

Lovely morning walk. Birds and deer galore. Spring is the best.

I think we mappers need a name for this phenomenon. I’m proposing “The Tin Slag Effect” or “Prominence quirk.”

Fellow mapmakers: Is there a word for scenarios when web map labeling engines inadvertently prioritize the most obscure features over the more recognizable prominent ones? “Slag Rock” is an itty bitty boulder, and sort of unofficial. I love that it dominates all other Bellingham landmarks here 🙃

The Merlin Bird ID app has replaced Strava as my favorite. And look who’s back in these PNW forests!! The Western Tanager and the Swainson’s Thrush. Officially the best time of year.

It’s almost time for Ski To Sea here in Bellingham. A race that starts with downhill ski/snowboard at Mount Baker and ends with kayaking in Bellingham Bay. Here’s a map I made of the race - color scheme inspired by sunset over Bellingham Bay. Good luck to all the racers! #Bellingham

✨ NYT digital team took one art file and made this feature. I gave them plenty of resolution and they made great use! Get up close with a watercolor and enjoy observing where pigment was applied and how it settled out. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/t...

The “child” was me. Not sure how I feel about Ring’s new AI video descriptions.

It's always fun when you get to map your own city. Here's a near-completed Bellingham, Washington map I've been working on lately. Any other Bellinghamsters out there? 🗺️

I’m not usually one to post about my thoughts on movies. But The Dark Wizard documentary series on HBO is phenomenal.

Happy World Migratory Bird Day (yesterday 🐦). One of the most beautiful songs in the chorus of birds will be arriving soon to the northern forest. The Swainson’s Thrush, my favorite bird song. This map was made a while back w/ Maps for Adobe. Get out there an enjoy the music 🎵

Very sad news about the rare finback whale we saw last week. A tragic tale of whales in the region apparently. I feel fortunate to have witnessed this amazing creature. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

We’ve been seeing a finback whale in the Bay outside our window for the past two days. Incredibly huge animal! These amazing creatures are endangered, so I’m feeling lucky it made an appearance in Bellingham. 🐋

My favorite Artemis image so far.

Hey mappers - Here is an opportunity to get an early look at some big changes to Esri's Maps for Adobe mapping plug-in for Illustrator. Check out this link to participate in our Early Adopter Program (Beta): community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-ma...

I'm making a map of Cleveland, Ohio, and I thought I had bad data because of a long wobbly border between Cleveland and Shaker Heights. Turns out, Cleveland just has a very jagged boundary.

Good morning from Seattle, where the vibe has a dose of joy today 💙💚

I have a serious shoulder injury & see a renowned specialist tomorrow at 7:30am. Rather than brave Seattle morning rush hour, I drove down tonight and am watching the Super Bowl alone in a hotel. 💙💚 Go HAWKS 💚💙 (And good vibes to the shoulder so I can climb again!)

Yesss! I changed symbolization from opacity to hue & built a palette that leans into moody sunset tones. Opacity wasn't delivering the drama of solstice extremes. Hue gives the emotional weight it deserves. I’m enjoying how this prototype is coming together. Daylight Hours over span of 1 year.

My eagerness for mapmaking surpasses my patience. Here's an early look at my proof-of-concept animation showing daylight hours per each 5-deg latitude band over the span of one year. Built with ArcGIS Pro, python, Maps for Adobe, Illustrator, After Effects, JavaScript/TS. 1/

Happy Winter Solstice Eve! Cheers to brighter days ahead ❄️ Photo: Liberty Bell Mountain group, North Cascades.

#30DayMapChallenge Day 28: Black. Finalized in After Effects, the planet in dark tones with the world's tectonic plate boundaries slightly animating. Started w/ ArcGIS Pro and Illustrator. My video was too large for Bluesky, so here's the instagram version. 🌎 www.instagram.com/reel/DRncTuB...

i’m not crying you’re crying xkcd: Fifteen Years

#30DayMapChallenge Day 22: Natural Earth data. Made in Pro & Illustrator. Lighting drawn in vector artwork in Illustrator.

#30DayMapChallenge Day 19: Projections Equal Earth and web Mercator, both aligned at 0, 0.

#30daymapchallenge Day 16: Cell 🗺️

I see deer almost every morning walk, but this beautiful buck was extraordinary today. Gorgeous.

#30daymapchallenge Day 4. My Data One year ago today we said goodbye to Jasperdog. I drew this hillshade of Goat Mtn in memory of a special hike w/my pup. I plan to complete the map soon. The other photo is the actual hike. One year and still missing him so much 🐾

#30DayMapChallenge Day 3: Polygons Not a lot of time for this one today. Mexico and surrounding geography with an early mid-century modern twist. 🌎

Serendipitously, I flew from east coast time zone to the pacific on the eve of setting our clocks back. I landed at 3:00am body clock time. That extra hour of sleep was wonderful. Kentucky was fantastic! Cartography conference, climbing, hanging w friends & working. Glad to be back in the PNW 🌲

#30DayMapChallenge “Points” I chose to map this pene-exclave using a modified antique style. Point Roberts is a small community only accessible via the water or by driving through Canada (twice if you’re coming from the US!) I enjoy that our little exclave is nestled by our 🇨🇦 neighbors.

I’m considering a blog post that nobody will read: A list of reasons that cartograms for US Elections are not my thing. I understand why some folks like them, but nevertheless, I intentionally avoid them.

Portland, Oregon is beautiful.

Tonight’s sunset over Bellingham Bay from the front porch. It’s setting so far south now as the days get increasingly shorter.

It sounds cliche, but it is true. Every time I mentor a budding geo-spatial person, I walk away inspired and hopeful for our future.

I’m dog sitting Pip this week, and it would be rude not to share this cute face 🥹

Went rock climbing in the North Cascades National Park this weekend and caught this shot 📸 of Joe on a beautiful 5.13a that I’m quite happy with.

This time, rock climbing brings me to Utah. Momentary WiFi allows me to share this stunning sunset. Back into the wilderness again tomorrow where I’m grateful for the lack of cell service. 🧗

Sturgeon Moon tonight. Spectacular.

My BellTopo Sans font in the wild (Reuters). I love that it’s for a piece on public lands protections. Thanks for the heads-up @moriartymaps.com This is a stunning scrollymap. You can download the font for free at sarahbellmaps.com

In my world, map is a verb.

I'm off to #Canada 🍁 and I'm looking for #jobs! I'm looking for roles in BC/AB in or around #Vancouver / #Calgary / Canadian #Rockies / remote. Open to anything #GIS & #cartography. 11+ years experience across ArcGIS, QGIS, FME, Adobe, Blender… Please get in touch if you have any leads! #gischat

I rarely do animated maps in phases, because I let the flow state consume me (it’s quite enjoyable). This time however, I’m executing a phased vision for an animated map. This is a small section of the base of phase one.

More wildlife updates. Cougar track on top of another cougar track, both from the same cat. This creature walked all around the muddy trail we hiked yesterday. It’s a joy knowing the local ecosystem sustains these beautiful megafauna 🐱 it also left a territorial remnant (not pictured)

Bear sightings are the best. Came across this healthy gorgeous black bear in Skagit County, Washington state.

Fine but it’s still a word to me

New on the blog: "Planetfall," in which I go into great detail about making a fun map based upon a 1999 computer game. One of the most technically demanding projects of my career, for a very niche audience. somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/2025/05/20/p... #SMAC

Gosh dataviz is fun! Definitely my favorite bar chart I've gotten to make in a while. I'll certainly be reusing these colors. Each state ranked by voter turnout & change (+/-) in turnout from 2024-2024. sarahbellmaps.com/2025/2024-vo... #datavisualization

Obviously an honor to have Daniel Huffman use my font, but seriously excited to see the finished map 😍

As @vickyjohnsondahl.bsky.social says, pick the window seat. Especially when flying into SeaTac. Mount Rainier peaking above low clouds on my flight home.