Heathrow’s Global Reach

Purpose

What these maps were made for

These layouts were designed as advertisement-style maps for Heathrow Airport. Instead of only showing airport locations, I wanted the maps to communicate a simple travel message: Heathrow connects London to many places around the world. The first layout answers “how far can Heathrow take you?” and the second layout answers “where can Heathrow take you for popular travel experiences?”

Because the maps were meant to work visually as advertisements, I kept the message direct and made the flight lines the main focus. The layouts needed to be attractive, easy to understand quickly, and still cartographically meaningful.

Process

How I created the flowline maps

I used flight origin-destination data for London Heathrow and converted the destination coordinates into flight flowlines. Each line represents a nonstop connection between Heathrow and another destination. For the global layout, I classified the flights by distance so the viewer could quickly see short, medium, and long-distance connections.

For the second layout, I focused on North America and combined the flight lines with tourism data. This allowed the map to show not only where Heathrow flies, but also how those destinations relate to popular travel regions. I also used an inset world map to show the larger global flight network and highlight where the regional map fits within it.

Projection Choice

Why projection mattered

Projection choice was one of the most important parts of this project because flowline maps can be strongly affected by how the world is displayed. For the global layout, I used a Natural Earth projection and customized it so the map was centered close to Heathrow. This helped the routes spread outward from one point in a balanced and visually clear way.

I chose Natural Earth because it gives the world a smooth, balanced appearance without making the layout feel too distorted. It also created a rounded world-map shape that worked well with the dark advertisement style.

For the North America layout, I used a Mercator-style projection for the main regional map because it filled the rectangular layout space well and made the North Atlantic connections easy to read. I used a Natural Earth projection for the inset map because it gave a clearer global overview.

Design Choices

How I styled the maps

I used a dark background so the flight lines would stand out immediately. In the global layout, the countries are kept in gray so they provide geographic context without competing with the flowlines. The flight lines are separated into distance classes, with brighter colors used to keep longer-distance connections prominent.

In the North America layout, I used bright blue flight lines over warm tourism colors. The warm country shading helps show tourism intensity, while the blue curves keep the Heathrow connections visually separate. I also labeled the North American destinations so the viewer could identify the cities without needing to interpret the map only from the legend.

Findings

What the maps show

The global layout shows Heathrow as a major international hub, with flight paths extending across North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. The longest connections are visually emphasized, helping the map support the message that Heathrow connects London to distant parts of the world.

The North America layout shows that Heathrow has many nonstop connections to major destinations across Canada and the United States. The map also connects those routes to tourism patterns, showing North America as a major travel region with strong visitor numbers. In this layout, the flowlines and tourism shading work together to support the travel advertisement message.

Reflection

What I learned from this map

This project helped me understand that flow maps are not just about drawing curved lines. The projection, line color, line hierarchy, basemap style, label placement, and legend design all affect how the audience interprets the map. A projection that looks good for a global advertisement may not be the best choice for a regional map, so the projection has to match the purpose of each layout.

I also learned that flowlines can become cluttered very quickly. The main challenge was keeping the map visually exciting while still readable. Using a dark background, grouped distance classes, and careful label placement helped make the layouts more balanced.