About the shop
After countless daring quests, I’ve found peace in creating detailed fantasy maps and unique vector illustrations for fellow explorers like you. Step into my enchanted shop, explore carefully curated collections, and start bringing your own worlds to life with art crafted for adventure.
Alternatively, browse my selection of ready-made maps, ideal as thoughtful gifts, elegant decor, immersive game assets, or captivating illustrations.
About the autor
Greetings, I am an adventurous illustrator who draws, illustrates and collects all kinds of maps especially fantasy maps.
Beside this, I also enjoy making traditional drawings, vector illustrations and photo collages with fantasy or urban subjects.
The Story of Qatlasmap
The Island of the Lizard King, a Fighting Fantasy book, was the first book of this kind I ever came across. It was 1991 when Romania's borders opened to the West. I had no idea that such a thing existed before, but I had always been a geek, I liked electronic handheld games, and I collected everything I could, such as Matchbox cars and comic books.
The illustrations I discovered in gamebooks and the interactive reading completely captivated and absorbed me. In the post-communist world, this was something completely new to me, and it is actually thanks to gamebooks that I fell in love with reading.
The First Qatlasmap Gamebook Map
I’ve been into maps since I was a kid, starting with hand-drawn treasure maps and mapping my neighborhood block by block. Fighting Fantasy later pushed that obsession further – those books basically asked you to map the adventure, so I did, every single time.
Beating the story was the goal at first. Later, I wanted the whole book mapped, every possible path. The Island of the Lizard King had an illustrated map, and I rewrote it countless times.
By the time I was selling fantasy vector art, the thought hit me: gamebook maps were worth sharing too. That’s where Qatlasmap really started for me.
The Biggest Challenges and Achievements
Every gamebook map presents a different type of challenge. Secrets of Salamonis was difficult because the story constantly changes in time and space, with locations and events dynamically rearranging the world. Putting this into a coherent and readable form required serious discipline and structured thinking.
House of Hell was a completely different challenge. My personal attachment to the project meant that I wanted every detail of the map to be as accurate as possible. It was also my first isometric fantasy map, which meant I had to develop a new visual language for myself.
Time management is the most constant challenge of the project. I build Qatlasmap on my own, so I always have to fight for free creative hours alongside work and family. But when everything comes together, a thought, a mood, or an idea is enough to get me hooked and start the process.
In 2025, I had a particularly important moment. With the support of Ian Livingstone, my map of Warlock of the Firetop Mountain was published in a new hardcover edition. That was when I first truly felt that Qatlasmap had surpassed me and become a value in its own right.
My Process of Map Making
The process always starts the same way for me: I read, take notes, make quick sketches, and try to understand the internal rules and movements of the story's world.
The first real form of the map is created on paper, with ink or felt-tip pen, digitization comes only after that. I scan the drawing, correct any irregularities, redraw the weaker parts, and if something turns out well and is suitable for a separate life, I create a separate graphic series from it.
Once the structure is stable, I can add colors, captions, icons, and drawings of beasts. Spelling always requires special attention; this is the point where I doubt myself the most, but perhaps this is what keeps me alert and precise.
In recent years, isometric adventure style has become my trademark. This perspective best conveys the feeling I sought in books as a child: that the map is not just a guide, but part of the experience. It seems that this approach appeals to others as well, and that gives me the strength to continue.
My Favorite Gamebooks
It's always difficult to pick favorites because these books have all stuck with me for different reasons, but if I had to choose, Steve Jackson's Sorcery series is closest to my heart. The storytelling, character development, and power of John Blanche's illustrations come together to form a whole that I believe has remained the gold standard in the genre ever since.
I can't compare the atmosphere of Crypt of the Sorcerer to anything else. There's something particularly tense and slightly eerie about it that sticks in my memory and I can recall it in an instant.
Then there's House of Hell, which also remains a very personal experience for me. There was a serious translation error in the Hungarian edition, which meant that I had to map out the book section by section in order to have any chance of success. Such a hiccup would break many stories, but for me it had the opposite effect. It drew me even further into the logic and world of the book.
Mapping With Purpose
I believe in good mapmaking, in striking a balance between usability, clarity, and subtle, mysterious details. As a mapmaker, this is my compass: keep it clean and functional, yet add a layer that invites discovery.
I am truly grateful to now be part of the Fighting Fantasy universe, even if I started from a small, initially unimaginable point. From here, on the eastern edge, it seemed impossible for a long time. In the beginning, I made mistakes: as an enthusiastic fan, I published maps without official agreements, which I now regret, but I learned from it.
Qatlasmap is not the result of a lucky coincidence, but the result of a long journey, which I now continue with greater responsibility, awareness, and unwavering passion.