The Stargazer’s Guide to Hampstead Heath
While light pollution usually hampers sky visibility in London, Hampstead Heath includes some of the highest natural points in the Greater London Area. This allows the Heath (also the home to a 100-year-old observatory) to be one best places in London to go stargazing. The Stargazer’s Guide to Hampstead Heath is a map that acts as a one-stop tool for anybody interested in Stargazing at the Heath.
Brief Featuring: Information Design
Brief Featuring: Information Design
The Map:
The map is in a book form, using a Turkish Map fold. One half of the cover is a geographic map that marks out the best places in the Heath to go stargazing, taking into consideration tree coverage and nearest stations.
The other half is a redesigned planisphere that can be rotated to any given date and time to depict the exact star coverage above the Heath at that moment. When opened, there is a larger star map that gives the names and the positions of the constellations visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
The outer planisphere map is made out of a glow-in-the-dark paper to allow visibility in the night.
The map is held in place using a bellyband that also explains to users how to use the map.
The map is held in place using a bellyband that also explains to users how to use the map.
Stargazing Site:
In addition to the map, I have also created a hypothetical ‘stargazing site’ that could be built on parliament hill, to house a common place for stargazing in the Heath. The site would consist of cushioned flooring to allow for people to lie down.
The walls would block light from the outside, but also be engraved with information about the different celestial bodies. A bigger star map would be at the centre of the space, mimicking the stars above.
Signage reminiscent of the moon and glow in the dark way finding would lead prospective users to the site.
