It's common practice for cartographers to flex their mapping muscles by depicting somewhere that doesn't exist. I saw a need for a modernized version of the maps of Arrakis from Frank Herbert's Dune series, and went to tackle it, informed by the real terrain of Wadi Rum, where Denis Villenueve shot the latest film adaptations.
Using digital elevation models (DEMs) from Wadi Run, I identified similar geographic features to those described in the book, and used photo editing software and digital painting tools to congeal these images into one cohesive, realistic map of the Desert Planet.
This map product has since been approved by the CHOAM spacing guild for official use in navigation and military strategy. Long live the fighters!
Map by Dorothy de Fontaine, published with the original run of Dune. Maintaining accuracy to this map was a guiding principle in arranging and depicting terrain.
