A portfolio of my mapping and design work. Please view more at http://liez59.wix.com/oremantis

1. MAPPING PORTFOLIO
Liezel Bohdanowicz
DAVID McCUTCHEON
Cartographer extraordinaire,
FBCart.S | DVD Maps
Tel 07990 580357
david@dvdmaps.co.uk
www.dvdmaps.co.uk
ROELIEN THERON
Managing Editor | Struik Travel and Heritage
Tel +27 (0)21 460 5400
roelient@randomstruik.co.za
www.randomstruik.co.za
KRISTOF VAN DEN BRANDEN
Managing Director | La Mosca
Tel +32 478 88 30 13
kristof@lamosca.be
www.lamosca.be
GORDON CHEERS
Managing Director | Millennium House
Tel (612) 9817 4971
gcheers@millenniumhouse.com.au
www.millenniumhouse.com.au
contactable
references

2. 1985 – 1999
education
2000 – 2002
Office Secretary & PA
at an advertising agency
2002 – 2004
Digital Cartographer at
Struik Publishers Special Projects
2004 – 2005
Research Editor at
Struik Publishers Mapstudio
2005
6-month gap break
in UK
mid-2005 – 2007
Assistant Events Coordinator
& Internal Communications Officer
at Sanlam Investments
Lamosca The Target maps
South Africa by Road maps
Beautiful Kenya map
Paths to Pints maps
Sanlam corporate brochure
Dorling Kindersley maps
Bradt Travel Guide maps
Millennium House Earth Platinum
PGUK Yellow pages maps
2012 RATE: ZAR 160.00
Highlights
2006 - now
Freelance Cartographer & Graphic
Designer at Oremantis.com
Name
Liezel Bohdanowicz
DOB
05031979
Tel
+27 (0)21 9031678
Mobile
+27 (0)79 194 0163
Mobile
liezel@oremantis.com
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
Born and raised in Cape Town, I began my creative
studies at school where I enrolled in an art academy
in the afternoons. Here I studied art history, textile
and fibre art design for 4 years. I wanted to become
a Textile Designer. Between 1997 and 1998, I studied
Textile Design at the local technikon for a further 2
years. I was yearning for work experience and quite
honestly, I had had enough of fabric. I did however
pick up photoshop and professional design practice
skills while on the diploma course. I wanted to
change my career and decided against another 2
years at college. As a stepping stone, while
deciding on the perfect career direction, I enrolled
at a college where I studied the intricacies of
becoming a really good secretary. I was fortunate
enough to find a job at an advertising agency where
I learnt valuable skills about the admin behind the
creative industry. During my time at the ad agency,
I enrolled in a web design course, evening classes.
I learnt how to design a web site and web-friendly graphics. Towards the end of 2002,
I applied for a junior map editing position at Struik Publishers, Special Projects
department. The department worked on exclusive projects contracted by Struik’s sister
company - Lovell Johns UK.
When I applied for this job, I had no idea about the passionate and totally obsessive
relationship I would develop with maps. After only two days on the new job I knew that
my true career calling was standing right in front of me. I worked hard, training on the
job, staying late to practice what I had learnt about mapping everyday. I worked at an
internet cafe some nights to supplement my income - as we all know, a junior map
editor must be penny wise.
In 2004, I moved internally to the major map publishing department in the country -
Mapstudio. The position was titled Research Editor, but really it was a Quality Assurance
position where I would check both the content and the cartographic styling of the maps.
I enjoyed this, but I missed making maps.
At the beginning of 2005, I had the chance to travel to the UK for 6 months. It’s a long
story, but it gave me a kick start into getting ideas together to run my own mapping
and design freelance business. Upon returning in mid-2005, I had to find work quickly
and so applied for a position at an investment company. It was a creative position
where I designed brochures, internal communication letters, promotional gifts, updated
the company’s website, letterheads, business cards and even had the chance to design
a recipe book for a staff year-end gift. Nice job but I never lost sight of my goal - making
maps.
During my time at the investment company I contacted Lovell Johns UK and informed
them that I was available for possible freelance work. I had always had a good working
relationship with David McCutcheon, the project manager at Lovell Johns at the time.
He was happy to have me on board. I created maps every day, when I returned home
from my day job. This taught me fearlessness of an all-nighter. There were plenty of
these. The same year I won bids on mapping projects advertised at getafreelancer.com.
Locally, I had two more clients added to my list and by mid-2007, my freelancing was
too busy to continue with a day job. I went completely solo and have worked on
innovative, exciting and groundbreaking projects ever since. I use a pc but I am mac
literate and should a project require additional software, machine or OS, I am willing to
purchase.
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ABOUT ME
MILLENNIUM HOUSE
RANDOM HOUSE STRUIK
LA MOSCA THE TARGET
LOVELL JOHNS UK
DVDMAPS
OTHER WORK
REFERENCES
timeline
Portfolio contents
01

3. 1 2 3 4 5
1996
LA ROCHELLE GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL MATRIC
English, Afrikaans, Art History, Fibre Art, Textile Design,
Typing, Needlework
1997 – 1999
TEXTILE DESIGN - CAPE TECHNIKON
Photoshop classes on Mac platform
Design practice and principles
Screenprinting
1999
COMPUTER APPLICATION CAREER DIPLOMA
All Microsoft office applications at an advanced level
Secretarial and reception etiquette
2001
WEB DESIGN – DAKOTA TRAINING
Dreamweaver 4 UltraDev
Fireworks 4
Flash 5 Design and Actionscript
Silverfish e-commerce
Html
2002
SPECIALIZED TRAINING FROM LOVELL JOHNS UK FOR
ARCMAP, ILLUSTRATOR AND FREEHAND
Learning how to gazetteer & digitise to create the foundation
of a map & to complete the process thereafter
2003
CARTO101
1-week Carto101 company sponsored course with
S. Jansen from Land Affairs: Surveys and Mapping
to learn the principles behind Cartography
Oremantis was born on my return from the UK.
I wanted to register a website to showcase my
map design skills and had to establish a web
presence.
The idea behind the Oremantis logo:
ORE relates to roads, buildings, man-made
structures. MANTIS is used for the bright
green displayed in a praying mantis insect
to signify nature.
These words join to form a balance and
combination between nature and industry. One
can therefore compare these elements to roads
over landscapes, parks in cities, buildings - all
depicted and used in mapping.
who is
education
find me on
02

4. Publisher: Gordon Cheers
“An outstanding milestone in publishing at 6ft x 4.5ft
(1.8m x 1.4m), this exquisite book is unsurpassed in
size, quality, and detail.
A showcase of the craftsmanship of more than 100
international cartographers, geographers and
photographers.
Specifications
Total collection limited to thirty-one individually
numbered copies
6 feet × 4.5 feet (1.8m × 1.4m)
Earth Platinum ISBN 978-1-921811-11-1
128 pages, portrait
More than 45 pages of the finest contemporary
maps
Cost $100,000 USD
Once in a lifetime, the opportunity comes along to acquire
something truly exquisite and unique—a piece of history,
a rare collectible, a masterpiece... EARTH Platinum
Edition is such an acquisition. With only 31 individually
numbered copies of this immense, limited edition atlas
available, this beautifully presented book will be sought
after by fine institutions and discerning collectors. Superb
cartography is displayed on the massive pages when
opened: each spread measures a breathtaking 6 feet x 9
feet (1.8m x 2.7m), presenting an unsurpassed view of
the world. Every step required to produce this exclusive
atlas has challenged existing processes, and the exacting
standards of quality and presentation expected by
Millennium House have contributed to the development
of improved techniques and demanded the finest
craftsmanship.
EARTH Platinum Edition is destined to become a prized
reference and a focal point of the world's major libraries
and repositories.”
http://www.millenniumhouse.com.au/title-earth-plat.html
“This particular map shows
your passion for cartography
and any praise given to you is
well earned. It has been a true
pleasure to have you work on
this project, without your skills
it would not have been possible
in the short time we had left to
complete this incredible
project.”
- Craig MacAlpine, Geographx
(a general comment about my work)
A rather amusing, yet very flattering, note from
Gordon:
“We would like to do the whole book
with you. Sadly we don’t have the
time. You don’t have a twin?”
- Gordon Cheers, Managing Director at
Millennium House
before after
EARTH Platinum Edition The World's Largest Atlas
a snippet from the imprint
03

5. I was part of both the clean-up and corrections team during
the Earth Platinum project.
The clean-up team are primarily tasked with turning a computer-
generated product into something worthwhile. They look at label
placement and also the labels that Maplex has placed as opposed
to unplaced.
The maps went through the following processes before the
clean-up phase:
1. Type labels and symbology for each map are extracted,
projected and exported from the central geodatabase using
Maplex and imported into an Illustrator page template.
2. A number of scripts are run for character and symbol
replacements
3. The marginalia and the linework are added
4. A projected raster scan of an earlier MH map is then added to
provide a base reference for clean-up team
> This is where I stepped in for clean-up
5. Following clean-up, the scanned raster is removed and
replaced with the proper raster relief map (created at
Geographx)
6. Checks are run and a 1st draft pdf is created which goes
back to Millennium House, where the editors mark it up for
corrections.
7. The marked-up pdf goes, together with the Illustrator file, to
those charged with implementing corrections. The
cartographer corrects the Illustrator file and notes anything
he/she finds that needs to be brought to the MH editor’s
attention.
> This is where I stepped in for corrections
8. This editing/correction process will go through at least 2
iterations.
9. The files then go back to Geographx for last minute checks on
formatting, colour profiles etc. All the Gaz_IDs are exported so
that the Gazette can be created. A press quality file is created
and sent off for final proofing and printing.
before after
04

6. Supply 1 outline map, 1 locator map, 29 chapter maps and update 12 town plans
Convert original data from Freehand to Illustrator
Tweak the map design to compliment the rest of the guide
Implement a visually attractive way to display an English and Afrikaans version of a map label
Add POI’s mentioned in each chapter, where they are not in the original file
Use clipping masks and relevant cropping required for DPS maps such as the Garden Route
in the news
The brief
05

7. South Africa by Road
A Regional Guide
“South Africa by Road: A Regional Guide
is more than a mere travel guide; it is a
comprehensive handbook to the country,
giving insight into the many national
treasures that line our highways and
byways – from vibrant cities to charming
country towns and one-horse dorps
steeped in history. The ultimate companion
for any road trip, it offers sound advice on
the best routes, and contains all that
holidaymakers need to know when
planning their next vacation.
Full-colour photographs and an interesting
mix of side panels will inspire travellers to
take to the tarred and gravel roads of South
Africa, and explore the many absorbing
nooks and crannies of our extraordinarily
diverse country. Each chapter gives an
overview of a region’s climate, flora and
fauna, and history and heritage, and
highlights the most noteworthy places.
Ideas for what to do in each location are
outlined, as are key activities, routes and
trails.
From hot-air ballooning to white-water
rafting, 4x4 trails to strolls in the
countryside, spelunking to visiting
museums, and festivals to architecture,
there is something for everyone.
Customised full-colour maps in each of
the 29 chapters show national, secondary
and dirt roads, toll roads, passes, game
reserves, national parks and nature
reserves, as well as places of interest to
help you plan your journey. A separate
46-page road guide and 12 town plans
complete the useful cartographic section.”
http://www.randomstruik.co.za/title-page.php
?titleID=3162&imprintID=1
“Liezel,
Thank you for all the time and
energy you put into SABR.
The maps look amazing, and truly
make this book a cut above the
rest.”
- Struik Travel and Heritage |
Random House Struik
06

8. “Kenya – The Beautiful guides the reader on a journey through
each of the country's distinctive regions, following in the
footsteps of the travellers who have gone before in search of
the beautiful land.”
http://www.randomstruik.co.za/title-page.php?titleID=1169&imprintID=1
Country map: 230mm (h) x 220 mm (w),
full-colour
Electronic files and fonts of base map supplied
Texture map to be dropped in
Show all park boundaries and names
Additional parks and marine reserves to be
added
Add labels for geographic features
"YOU ARE A MAGICIAN! The map is beautiful and your
work is brilliant!"
- Roelien Theron, Managing Editor
Struik Travel and Heritage | Random House Struik
(on ‘Kenya - The Beautiful’ map)
Kenya - The Beautiful
The brief
07

9. Book size is A5 portrait
Base maps supplied by NGI
Base maps to be grayscale, 70% b/w
and 300dpi
Ensure base maps are supplied with
a straight orientation
Maps to be done in Illustrator
Map spec and font supplied on a
template
Font is chalkboard bold 7pt
Add scale bar and north symbol
Create parking, POI, gradient and
directional symbols
Use the base map, hand drawn routes
from the authors’ notes and supplied
spec to create and supply the final
maps
“The most detailed coverage yet of the many paths that crisscross the Cape Peninsula,
this book describes 72 trails that traverse Table Mountain, the rocky headlands of Cape
Point, and the mountains, ridges, beaches and forests of Constantia and the villages that
hug the peninsular coastline. Best of all, however, there’s a chapter presenting 33 favoured
watering holes where weary hikers can wet their whistles after they have worked up a
sweat.
Besides a detailed description, each trail features a concise route summary, contour map ,
and GPS coordinates for the start and end points. A handy overview presents the distance,
duration, difficulty, exposure and gradient of each route; colour photographs and varied
fact panels on local flora, fauna, geology and history add lively interest. The carefully
selected pubs have been rated according to atmosphere, value and quality of food, and
useful icons illustrate where there are views or sports viewing facilities.
Mountain safety and emergency rescue advice and tips on hiking gear and what to pack
are also included. This practical guide, written by veteran hiker Tony Burton, is a must-have
for novice and experienced hikers as well as casual ramblers. Even teetotallers will not
want to be without their copy.”
http://www.randomstruik.co.za/title-page.php?titleID=4658&imprintID=1
“Thanks for the great work you've done on this title.
I know it's been demanding but we could not have
done it without your massive contribution.”
- Roelien Theron, Managing Editor,
Struik Travel and Heritage | Random House Struik
(on the ‘Paths to Pubs’ maps)
The brief
Paths to Pubs:
A Guide to Hikes and Pints in the Cape Peninsula
08

10. “The Target is an exciting chase game that is unique in the
world. You will be playing a video game with the city as the
setting.
A dangerous gangster has just escaped from prison. A client
will give him money for every crime he commits. Three
policemen are sent to catch him, before he has managed to
collect € 1,000,000.
The gangster has to steal (virtual) objects that are located all
over the city to be able to commit the crimes: a knife, a rope
ladder, explosives, etc. Every time he steals an object or
commits a crime, however, the gangster leaves a trail for the
police teams.
Thanks to the satellites, the police teams are able to localize
the gangster every 6 minutes. They can also check
continuously how far away they are from the gangster.
But the gangster knows how to intercept the satellite signals
and is given the same information as the players on his
screen... and he has a few special defences to shake off any
police pursuit, like the mines or the bullet-proof vest.
Will the police succeed in disabling the gangster before he
has achieved his goal?”
http://www.lamoscagames.com/en/the-target
“We are very happy with the maps you have made for us
over the past few years! Thanks again for all the beautiful
and accurate maps you have made. You are always ready
to produce a last minute map and deliver on time.”
- Kristof Van Den Branden, owner of La Mosca
I met Kristof, owner of La Mosca, in 2006 via Getafreelancer.com.
I won a bid on a project and we have been working together ever
since. It’s a wonderful and exciting way to play a city game and I
commend him for his originality and use of combining mapping and
technology. To-date, I have created 170 cards and 330 customized
maps for La Mosca, The Target city game.©La Mosca
above: Bercy 720x720 The Target game map
below: Versailles 720x720 The Target game map below: Disney World 720x720 The Target game map
La Mosca The Target
09

11. Design a map spec to fit in with the
La Mosca brand
Create a sliceable grid over the map
that will not have any text running over
the edges so that it can be displayed
on a standard GPS-enabled cellular
device screen (120px per slice)
Research and collect information from
various reference sources on the
internet so that the map is nearest to
actual structures on the ground
Source and fit street names and other
applicable labels
For the laminated cards, create a back
to back card design that can be
printed by La Mosca and accompany
the player during the game
Add symbols to the map
Front image supplied by La Mosca
below: Multilingual Hong Kong 720x720 The Target game map
above: Card design for The Target game map
The brief - maps
The brief - cards
10

12. above: examples of the editor overlays supplied for updates
1st stage map tidy
Restyle data
Extend south of map
Apply overlay edits
Add tunnels and intersections
Hill shading added by
Lovell Johns
before
The brief - DK maps
after
11

13. Organise layers and data
Import a .tiff base
Tidy all linework
Tidy all text
Maintain indexing features
Organise layers and data
Tidy all linework
Tidy all text
Add symbols
Restyle data where required
Tidy all linework
Tidy all text
Maintain indexing features
Since 2002, I have had the opportunity to be an
employee and a sub-contractor to Lovell Johns,
UK. Clients and titles range from AA and Philip’s
street atlases, PGUK, Dorling Kindersley and many
more.
I received in-house on-the-job training from my
manager - Carl Germishuys (Cape Town), Clare
Varney (UK) and David McCutcheon (UK) during a
two year period within the department.
below: a map from one of the many Philip’s street guides I worked on in 2003
My favourite part of mapping is most definately any
first stage map tidy, restyling of data & placing labelsThe brief - Philip’s Navigator Atlas
The brief - InterContinental Hotels Group
The brief - Philip’s Street guides
12

14. Origination of 65 maps using base maps from http://www.flosm.de
(credit given to OSM)
Maps: Regional, DPS and SPS
Restyle map
Add all labels
Add building shapes and POI’s from editorial notes supplied and other
research sources
Apply round joins to all linework
Tidy motorway centrelines & simplify
Clean up major junctions
Improve town name positioning
Review spacing of road numbers
Name every road/street that the route
follows. Use Leader lines where required
Reposition the bus stops over the new
route
Add the timing info for each bus stop
Review position of motorway junction
numbers
Reinstate unplaced labels where required
The bus routes need to exactly follow
the data
In 2009, David McCutcheon, ex-Production Manager at Lovell
Johns, went solo with his mapping career. I owe most of my skills
and mapping know-how to David and I consider him to be my map
mentor.
I partnered up with David and we continue to create many beautiful
maps together. We do however have the freedom to find and work on
our own projects.
above: Bath PGUK SPS map
“When I first traveled to South Africa in a training role, I came across
a young woman with a talent for making maps and more
impressively, playing pool. Little did I know this would be the start
of a professional relationship spanning over 10 years. I have a long
list of Cartographers who I can call upon when needed and Liezel
is top of that list. With an eye for detail, an inquiring mind and quick
to learn, she has matured into an accomplished Cartographer.
However, I'm not sure how her pool is these days.”
- David McCutcheon, Cartographer, FBCart.S
owner of DVDMaps
The brief - PGUK maps
The brief - Green Bus maps
13

15. Convert Freehand to Illustrator
Create a layer structure and relayer the data
Change the map number, date and the map title.
Replace symbols
Reunite fragmented text
Restyle the scale bar and all pattern fills
Be sure to work in Overprint preview mode
Use the hand-drawn notes on the scans provided
to originate a new map using reference sources
Use the key document containing points of interest
mentioned in the chapters to add them to the maps
Make sure to adhere to the styling on the Bradt stylesheet
Use the appropriate frame size and type of map, eg.
regional/town plan etc
The brief - Bradt conversionsThe brief - Bradt new maps
14

16. Design a brochure that can be emailed to, or printed
for, our clients
Design a logo
Originate a brand spec
Design various in-house corporate brochures to
be used by staff members as handbooks, at
conferences and workshops.
Honour the Sanlam brand while at the same time,
making the handbooks and brochures fun and
interesting to use.
The brief - Lazarsigns brochure
The brief - Sanlam brochures
15

17. DAVID McCUTCHEON
Cartographer extraordinaire,
FBCart.S | DVD Maps
Tel 07990 580357
david@dvdmaps.co.uk
www.dvdmaps.co.uk
ROELIEN THERON
Managing Editor | Struik Travel and Heritage
Tel +27 (0)21 460 5400
roelient@randomstruik.co.za
www.randomstruik.co.za
KRISTOF VAN DEN BRANDEN
Managing Director | La Mosca
Tel +32 478 88 30 13
kristof@lamosca.be
www.lamosca.be
GORDON CHEERS
Managing Director | Millennium House
Tel (612) 9817 4971
gcheers@millenniumhouse.com.au
www.millenniumhouse.com.au
contactable
references
16