Contour & Coast: World Map Prints

Every coastline traces back to a named source

Contour & Coast map prints begin with data, not with a sketch. Coastlines are drawn from Natural Earth, so a bay, a cape or an island sits where it genuinely sits. Country borders are left off, and only the coastline appears. The deep comes from GEBCO 2020, a project begun in 1903 under Prince Albert I of Monaco to chart the shape of the sea bed.

World maps here use the Equal Earth projection, introduced in 2018 by Bojan Šavrič, Bernhard Jenny and Tom Patterson. It is equal-area, so each land keeps its true proportions against the rest. Mercator makes Greenland look bigger than the whole of Africa. An equal-area map does not. It takes inspiration from the Robinson projection, though unlike Robinson it holds the relative size of areas.

Line, Mono and the softer surface

Line sets a fine ink stroke over a cream ground, with a gentle land tint. It reads quietly, which suits a hallway, a study or a bedroom where the map is not the loudest thing on the wall.

Mono strips out the cream and the tint and leaves a black line on white. Contrast does the work, so it holds its own next to dark frames and pale paint.

The third takes a painted look: the surface softens, then the true coastline is laid back over it so the shape stays accurate. It suits a room where you would rather the map felt like a picture than a diagram.

World maps, a map for kids, and the deep ocean

Map wall art has to fit the wall, so start with the layout. The South Up World Map flips the usual view, a reminder that many people who speak English treat up as north and down as south, though no map has to agree. The Black and White World Map gives the same coastlines the Mono treatment.

Kids World Map with Animals brings the coastline into a child's room. The Ocean Floor Map turns the view to the seabed, where GEBCO data sets the shape.

Each piece comes as an art print, a framed print or a canvas, like the rest of our wall art collection. Framed prints use a slim wood frame in oak look, black or white, with clear acrylic up front and a white mat if you want one. Canvas is 400gsm, wrapped around a stretcher about 1.5 in deep, with mirrored edges that keep the whole picture on the front. No hanging hardware comes in the box. Sizes vary by map, and a piece appears in a size only when it fills that shape with a slight trim and holds enough detail. The preview image shows the crop you will receive.

Where the credit sits

Each artwork page that uses Natural Earth or GEBCO data shows its own credit line, so you can trace a coastline or a trench to its source before you order. The title and subtitle in the foot band are set by our team, and the geography under them is not invented.

If you want older geography, the antique maps collection carries prints of old maps and sea charts from library collections, sold under the mapmaker's name. Every edition here also sits in the full map collection, so you can compare formats.