Making an original piece and modifying one that already exists are very different tasks. Generally, the original piece has way more flexibility. The existing work can’t be modified too greatly in most cases.
I was asked to tweak the design for the Navigation Basemap. So I had to balance what was there already with where the design needed to go. Below are a few examples of before and after. The amazing thing about doing this sort of work is that every single thing was eventually modified and it is a completely new map. The main goal was to make the map more active (meaning make it less backgroundy). I was happy with the changes, but in this case, more importantly, so were the teams who asked for the modifications.
Old Design
The main feedback asked for the larger scales to change, but it meant the smaller scales had to be adjusted to accommodate those changes.
New Design
The changes were very minor at the small scales. Colours were made a hint more vibrant and the city placement was changed.
Old Design
In the previous design the cities sat in the visual background a bit more.
New Design
Scale by scale the changes start piling up. Here, the most noticeable change was making the cities larger.
Old Design
The roads worked well in some areas, but when the density increased they had to be softened.
New Design
Things really started changing when the roads turned on. Unlike the cities, at these scales the roads where pushed more to the background.
Old Design
The stakeholders wanted the roads and road text to be promoted at these larger scales.
New Design
Road sizes where increased and the fonts made darker. With each change the goal was to keep the essence of the old design intact.
Old Design
It is always worth being grateful for what has come prior.
New Design
As you can tell the changes were most dramatic at the largest scales. The map now has more visual contrast.